Before I get to my 2014 goals, let's see how we did with my 2013 goals:

I apologize for saying I was coming back and then disappearing for over two weeks. I was hit by the flu, which then turned into bronchitis, and weakened my immune system enough to allow the stomach flu to join the party as well. And after THAT funtimes was done, it was time for finals week!

BUT, the good news is that finals is OVER and this is the first time I've had a job that is totally closed over the holidays (yay for working for the public school system!) which means I have TWO WEEKS of no school and no work. And I'm gonna use them well!

Aside from the obvious spending time with family, here are my plans:

First, I've got to read 7 more books to reach my goal. If I count all the manga I've read I've already surpassed my goal, but I'm not going to count those unless I have to. Here are the 5 books I'm planning on reading right now, and hopefully I'll get more for Christmas!


I'm also planning on doing a lot of sewing this holiday! Are y'all interested in seeing any of my costume stuff? It's usually not book related (though I am planning on starting on an Ever After High costume after I finish the book). Let me know! But regardless, here's what I'm working on this break:

Not a costume, just for fun, I'm planning on making this dress as a Christmas present for myself.

That dress is my first priority, since I'd like to wear it the Sunday after Christmas. But after that, it's time for a NEW COSTUME!

I am SO TIRED of all of my costumes being so cold! I really got into costuming in the summer, and nearly all of my costumes are perfect for summer weather and MISERABLE right now. Therefore I decided I needed a winter costume. And then I realized that my favorite anime character of all time lives in an arctic climate. Perfect!

Thus, I present my next costume:

Olivier Mira Armstrong!

If you don't know who this is, that's okay. But she is the best character from the best anime in the whole entire world. AND she wears like 3 layers! Over the break I'll be patterning the uniform and creating a mockup. I'll probably have to do this more than once (patterning is HARD!) but I want to get round 1 done over the break.

On top of all of this I plan on FINALLY finishing Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and casually watching Naruto Shippuden (my roommate really wants me to watch that show).

And of course I'll be reviewing awesome books and posting about awesome bookish stuff.

So? What do you think? Am I being to ambitious? What are YOUR plans for the holiday?

I've always been afraid to reveal to people how nerdy I really am. Because most of the time people think I'm "normal" and are surprised when I reveal to them how weird I am. I like that. If I do it the other way, they usually assume I'm going to be socially awkward/introverted.

HOWEVER, I've gotten kind of tired of hiding who I am and what I like. So today I took a leap of faith:

Today one of my classes was doing "introductions" as the professor took role. People were being SOOOO boring. So I decided to play a little game with them. When it got to me, I challenged the class by saying "Hi, my name is Enna and I consider myself a multigenre supernerd. If there's something nerdy, whether socially acceptable or not, I'm probably into it. I challenge you to find something I'm not into."

And then this happened:

Professor: Did you go to [Salt Lake] Comic Con?
Me: I had a VIP pass.
Professor: Naruto?
Me: Temari is my favorite character.
Girl #1: You watch anime?
Me: I'm a huge otaku
Boy #1: Doctor who?
Me: Oh yeah. River Song is my hero. I suppose I should also now mention that I'm a Sherlockian as well as a Whovian. I've also been a book reviewer for the big six publishers, I'm a HUGE video gamer, and I do my own graphic design and HTML.

At this point the professor really started to get into it.

Professor: All right y'all. She has thrown down the gauntlet! Who can top her?
Me: I will awkward you all out of here.
Boy #2: I've got one. When I was in 7th grade I won a national pokemon card tournament.
Class oohs and ahhs.
Professor: Do you still play?
Boy #2: Nah. I don't have my deck anymore
Me: I have seven decks. Come on over and we'll play some time.

Then the professor decided he should probably continue with class.

I didn't even get to mention cosplay...



And random interjection: I recently got the opportunity to read Dangerous by Shannon Hale. Should I review that ASAP or closer to the release date?

Today I depart on a journey that will change my life. 

Before I get to my 2013 goals, let's see how we did with my 2012 goals:

All right, earlier today I posted ALL of my answers to ALL of your questions, and I realized that was a little much. So I'm going to break them up into the four categories (Blogging, Personal, Writing, and Reading) and make four different posts over the next couple weeks. Let's start with the Personal questions!


Are there any Persons of Interest (and by Persons, I mean Young Men) in your life NOW?

• No. Still no. And you know what, I'm still so bad at male-female interactions that it will probably be a LONG time before that happens. On the bright side, I do have friends now! IRL friends! And they're all super-awesome nerds! Readers, anime-watchers, chain-mail makers, ... and you wonder why I don't have any Persons of Interest in my life.

Do you think I will ever get to be employee of the month if I punch a coworker in the face?

• Take a deep breath, S. We can have our own lunch.

If you could get away with stealing Halloween candy from little kids what would be the candy you would target?

• I love cookies and cream bars, whoppers, and butterfingers. Those were always my targets.

What are you going to be for Halloween?

• I'm so excited about my Halloween costume, guys! Ever since I turned about 11 years old I have been WAY too self-conscious to dress up for Halloween. But remember how I said I had a bunch of new nerd-friends? They have inspired me to go all out this year. So this year I am going as Sheik from the Legend of Zelda (or, more specifically, the version of Sheik that is in Super Smash Brothers Brawl). I'm making everything myself. I've already got all the leg guards and arm guards done. All I have left are the corset, the tabbard (the shirt-thing), the hat, and the shoes. It's already looking really good!

What was your favorite Halloween costume you wore as a kid?

• I had a costume that was a spider/bug. There were multiple sets of arms connected to my actual arms, so when I moved my arms all 6-8 arms moved (I can't remember how many arms there were).

What are your favourite bands/musicians?

• I have a bunch. So I'm just gonna list them. I also love all of the artists that I use for my IMM vlogs, but I usually only have that one song by that artist, so I don't consider them "favorite bands" just favorite songs. These are the bands that I actually own the CDs or entire album:
• Florence and the Machine
• Marina & the Diamonds (NOT her new album)
• Muse
• Mika
• Shayna Zaid
• Foster the People
• Two Door Cinema Club
• No Doubt
• Ellie Goulding
• Evanescence
• Julie Zenatti
• La Roux
• Regina Spektor

Have a question you want to ask? Ask it here!

This is for my family and friends who have been asking me about this. Here are my wish lists:

My family is in town this week. So instead of blogging, I'm doing things like this:



Yup. That was ACTUALLY me. This was probably the most exciting thing I have ever done in my life. I still can't stop thinking about it.

WOW! I got a lot more questions than I expected. I've sorted them into four categories: Blogging, Reading, Personal, and Writing. Sorry that I have a tendancy to be long winded. But this was such fun!

• To be honest, I wish I could tell you that I don’t remember. But I do. The reason I become a book blogger was to get free books. Which is COMPLETELY THE WRONG REASON. You’ll see in a later question that getting free books is HARD and UNPREDICTABLE. What’s more important is why I chose to STAY a book-blogger. If I wasn’t a book-blogger, I probably wouldn’t read half as much as I do. I’m not very good at internal motivation. But if I know someone, somewhere wants to read my review, then I’m going to read more. Also, reviewing helps me organize my thoughts and remember how I felt about a book long after I’ve finished.

How did you make your blog so well known?

• “Well known” is a relative term. I still think this same thing about many other blogs. The simple answer is networking. Get to know other bloggers, host multi-blog contests, and just be persistent. It didn’t happen overnight. I was blogging for about 2 years before people actually started to notice me. A pretty blog design helps. *wink*

Who volunteered to sponsor your international contests? I mean, I don't want to know the person's name, but how it happened and how you know them and stuff.  I assume someone didn't just come up to you on the street... :)

• Actually… that’s kind of how it happened. Of course, it wasn’t a stranger. That would be crazy. I can’t say much for fear of giving away HER secret identity, but my international contest “sponsor” isn’t really a sponsor. I still pay for the books. But instead of ME buying them from the Book Depository, I pay HER and then SHE buys them. That way her name is on the packages instead of mine, thus protecting my secret identity. She’s someone I’ve known… forever, really. And not on the internet, in real life. And she has always been very supportive of my blog ‘cause she’s a fellow bibliophile. And… that’s the whole story.

How do you get ARCs? Every time I ask a blogger I get vague answers. "There's lots of different ways..." What ways do YOU know of? Especially getting ARCs in the mail.  That one seems the most mysterious to me.  A step by step process of your experience would be immensely helpful to me.

• Oh boy. I asked this question a MILLION times when I first started blogging, and the sad fact is that it’s really vague. But I’m going to be as specific as I can here. I can’t tell you how EVERYONE gets ARCs, but I will tell you the various ways I get mine:
• The #1 way I get ARCs is from TOURS. Namely, Around the World Tours. I don’t get to keep them, but I do get to read them pretty far in advance. Any blogger who meets the requirements can join tours.
• #2 The next most lucrative way is through Amazon Vine. This is Amazon.com’s reviewer program. Every month they send out a list of things and you can choose 4. They usually have some big-name books as well as smaller ones. Vine is invitation only. I found out about vine about 3 years ago and have just been DROOLING to get in ever since. People gave me tips, but nothing worked. I couldn’t get that stupid invite! Fast forward 3 years. This summer I got an invite. Just out of the blue. It might be because e have Amazon Prime. It might be because I post reviews on Amazon. It might be because I buy a TON of books through Amazon. Or all of the above. I don’t know! I really don’t!
• #3 The next way I get books is directly from publishers. I’m currently on the mailing list for Bloomsbury, Macmillan, and Tor. By mailing list I mean THEY send ME lists of books sometimes and let me choose what I want. How did this happen? I’m not entirely sure… I know Bloomsbury heard of me because I always sent them requests for Shannon Hale’s books, and I’m kind of a Hale super-fan. I was part of Macmillan’s “In Group” back when it still existed, and when it went away I guess I stayed on their list. Tor just randomly sent me an e-mail one day and asked if I’d like to be on their mailing list.
• #4 DUMB LUCK. In case it isn’t clear that most of this is dumb luck anyway, I’ll say it again. It’s DUMB LUCK. Some of my ARCs I get because I’m lucky enough to actually know the authors. Sometimes, though, they really do just show up. When A Million Suns showed up I TOTALLY wasn’t expecting it. Sometimes Candlewick just surprises me with books in the mail (which is awesome. I love everything from Candlewick). I’ve never gotten a Harper book for review from Harper. Never.
• So what’s my advice? BE LOUD. Tweet your reviews and include the publisher’s tag. E-mail them your reviews (do this for at least a few MONTHS before you request books). And then cross your fingers. Do I tweet at publishers? Nope. Do I e-mail them? Nope. But remember that it’s taken me over FOUR YEARS to get where I am. If you want to speed up the process, BE LOUD.
• But my even BETTER advice is to be happy with just blogging. If the only thing making you blog is getting ARCs, you should just stop now. You’re gonna end up being super-jealous of everybody all the time, and jealousy does not breed happiness. Just saying.

Do you ever give away the ARC's you get once you've read them? I've always wanted to have one, even if it's super old.

• Usually if I LIKED a book then I keep the ARC and don’t buy a finished copy. If I LOVED the book then I keep the ARC and buy a finished copy. But if I DON’T LIKE a book then things get hairy. I have a policy where I don’t ever give away anything I wouldn’t want to win. It drives me NUTSO when there are those blogs who have a MILLION contests but all they give away is crap they don’t want. If I’m going to hold a contest, it’s going to be for something that I think is worth winning. This usually means that I host all of my contests. I can’t remember the last contest I had that was publisher-hosted. So, I have a bunch of ARCs that I don’t want, but I don’t give them away. When they really build up then I usually put them up for trade or “pay shipping and it’s yours” or give away a “box of ARCs.” Some of my ARCs, though (like the ones I get from Amazon Vine) cannot be traded or given away. Either I have to keep them, or I have to destroy them. It’s in the Vine agreement. Kinda annoying.

I've always wanted to know what was the thing you had with bad language in books.

• I’ve talked about this before. The simple answer is that it just bothers me. Plain and simple. Call it a pet peeve. I grew up being told that profanity is what people used when they weren’t smart enough to fully express themselves. (I know that’s kind of extreme and not entirely true, but that’s what you get for growing up around a bunch of public schoolteachers). (You also asked about A Touch Mortal. To be honest, I can’t even remember what it was about. So sorry. Can’t answer you!)

How many hours per week do you spend reading YA novels?

• This is a hard question because it totally depends on the week. Do I have a test this week? Any required reading? Did a new Zelda game just come out? Are my friends in town? Am I in a reading slump? If you were to average my total reading throughout the year, then I read about 7 hours a week. But that’s an average. If you’re a math person you know that averages are not always super-reliable. The median is probably closer to… 12? In the summer I can read up to 20-30 hours a week.

Have you ever read any adult novels that you like, or do you ONLY like YA novels? (If you do like any adult novels, please list them! We'd like to know!)

• Um… usually I read adult books on accident (as in, I thought they were YA). Technically Maria V. Snyder’s books are adult books, and I love those. I also love Shannon Hale’s adult books. But… I think that’s it. I just think that YA novels are usually much more interesting, and they have less questionable content on average (in my brain at least), and they usually aren’t as preachy or fluffy. But this is coming from someone who has almost no experience with adult lit. I still don’t really consider myself an adult.

What's the most overrated YA book you've ever read? By that I mean: is there a book that everyone and their brother raved about, couldn't gush enough about, etc....but you didn't like it?

• Hm… I’m going to briefly mention Twilight, only because I read it before it was cool. I read it only a few months after it came out after the insistence of all my friends and neighbors and I thought it was SUPER lame. But, for a more modern example? Um… there are loads. I’ll just list some of them: Criss Cross, The Scorpio Races, Carrier of the Mark, The Replacement, Crown Duel (which I liked, but everyone promised me I’d LOVE).

What book from 2011 surprised you the most? By that I mean perhaps you thought you'd dislike it but wound up truly loving it.

• Aha! An easy question! Blood Red Road. I didn’t even really want it, but Amazon offered it to me and I wasn’t gonna say no to a free book. Then I got it and saw that it was HUGE and without quotation marks AND written phonetically and I was like “NOOOOOO!!!!!!” It ended up being my favorite book of 2011.

I love the fairy tale type of books. I also hate ANY profanity or sex scenes at all. What book like that is your absolute favorite that you would recommend?

• If you’re looking for totally clean, and AMAZING books then you must read Shannon Hale’s books (though Book of a Thousand Days and Enna Burning do have very, very slight nudity[and they tie for my favorite book of all time]). Others would be Heather Tomlinson’s books, The Swan Kingdom by Zoe Marriott (but if you’re that sensitive then avoid Shadows on the Moon), Beauty by Robin McKinley, Sun & Moon, Ice & Snow by Jessica Day George, Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George, and… oh. I could go on for hours.

If you owned only copy of your all time favorite book left in the world and someone came up to you offering you ten thousand dollars for it, would you sell it?

• WHAT KIND OF TERRORIST ARE YOU!? This is hard for me to imagine because I have about 6 copies each of my favorite books (Book of a Thousand Days and Enna Burning). To be honest… I’d probably find some way to contact Shannon. I do know someone who can contact her directly. :) Maybe if I gave Shannon $5,000 then she could write me a new one.

Thoughts on Mockingjay?

• All I’ve ever said and all I’m ever going to say is that it was a necessary evil. She couldn’t make everyone happy, so she decided to make no one happy, and it kinda worked. In a crappy, necessary-evil way.

• Ugh. Hard. I’m not very good at it. My problem is that I always let reading suffer the most. If I have a ton of homework, then I feel like I can’t read for pleasure, but I don’t want to do my homework, so I’ll waste time online or something. I need to be better than that.

Are you going to see the Austenland movie?

• Nah. It sounds super-lame. I mean, Keri Russell? Fer real? Psh. She’s not in ANYTHING. And she’s certainly not in Waitress which is certainly not my FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME. And Shannon Hale isn’t all that great. I mean, it’s not like she’s my favorite author and actually co-wrote the screenplay or anything. What kind of question is this? *wink*

What size are your feet?

• This is actually a crazy story. My feet USED to be a size 9, but now I can wear as low as a size 7 and prefer and 8. What’s up with that?!

What are some of your favorite movies?

• My favorite movie of all time is Waitress with Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion. I also love Baby Mama, anything by Hayao Miyazaki, Jean De Florette, and Inception. Let’s see… am I missing anything big? I don’t think so.

Do you like proofs?

• NO! BIG FAT NO! For one thing, no one actually does proof like it’s meant to be done! For another, at my school the proofs professors are all codgerly old men who love math more than people and are very nice but have no idea how to teach it. It’s hard to love proofs when you don’t know what you’re proving.

What is one unusual trait you would like to find in a husband?

• I’ve been musing over this one ALL DAY. Unusual trait? He has to be tall enough so I can wear heels (Thank you Shannon Hale for making me realize how important this was). I’m not a big fan of freckles. He has to care about how he looks, but not be vain. And, oh yeah, he has to EXIST. That’s pretty unusual for me.

What classes are you taking this semester?

• Mathematical task design (I love this class already, seriously), Theoretical Literary Analysis (everything I hate about English in one class. Blah!), multicultural education, theatre teaching strategies, a religion class, and… one other that starts in second block. I can’t remember. My last semester was so crazy, and I’m taking spring semester classes this year, so this semester is pretty light.

How did that job at the library work out? Are you still stocking shelves or are you a librarian?

• I’ve never wanted to be a librarian (well, not professionally). I’m technically still employed at the library, but when school got to be too crazy I went from part-time to on-call. So they only call me in if they need me.

You've said that you're a Christian, but I was wondering what type and how much does it play into what you will and will not read?

• I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I don’t mention this specifically very often because I don’t feel like it’s very important to my blog. It doesn’t matter what religion I am or you are if you read my blog. And does it play into what I will and will not read? Um… not directly. I’ve NEVER said “I won’t read this because my religion tells me not to.” That’s a silly thing to say. I also don’t read LDS fiction because it’s usually so cheesy I want to gag.
• However, my religion has definitely affected my life and my life affects what I read. For example, I don’t hate swearing because Mormons don’t swear (and sometimes we do. Hey! We aren’t perfect!). I hate swearing because I was raised to believe that profanity is what people used when they weren’t smart enough to fully express themselves. I don’t like explicit sex in books because I think that intercourse is a very private act. Do I still read books with pre-martial sex? Absolutely! You can’t escape it. And I’m not naïve enough to think that grit doesn’t exist in the real world. I have no problem reading books with witchcraft or devils, BECAUSE IT’S FICTION. Silly goose. But I know some people do, and that’s fine!
• I don’t believe in “blind faith.” I think that you should always find the truth for yourself. If my religion has an effect on what I read, it’s because I really believe in what it tells me. Not just because it tells it to me.

Are you ever going to write a book? I'd love to read it when you do!
Have you ever tried to write a book?
Have you ever written a book? If so, would you ever consider publishing it or sharing it? If not, would you ever consider writing a book?

• When I was in high school I KNEW I wanted to be an author when I grew up. I idolized them. They were my heroes. And they still are. But writing… has become less important to me. I don’t “write” per say, but I do have a TON of ideas. My longest attempt at a novel before I stopped ended up around 20,000 words. I’ve already mentioned that I have a hard time with internal motivation. If I had a critique group, I could probably write a book. Because I would know that there were people counting on me to keep writing. But I don’t know how to find a good critique group, and as I am now, I just don’t have the motivation. There is something I want to be more than a writer, and that’s a teacher. I’m working toward that goal right now. But writing might happen someday.

WOW! That was FUN! I've gotta do this more often. I LOVE talking about myself! And this was a great writing exercise. Excuse me while I go find a quiet place to pop my ego.

The semester is over, and for the next 8 days I will be in the throes of finals. My life already looks like this:

especially my psyche. Imagine that rope is braided out of my nerves. I'm in a dark, dark place right now. (Do you know how TERRIBLE finals is for a math major? I know they're bad for everyone. But SERIOUSLY, people!)

As such, I've just decided to put Squeaky Books on pause until the 16th. PLEASE REMEMBER TO NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE BOOKS! The running is SO CLOSE that I can't call it. PLEASE HELP!

All right, if you've been following this blog for over a year then you know about my grandparents tradition. Every Christmas they take all of their grandkids out to eat, and then to the bookstore to choose books for their Christmas presents. I am incapable of choosing right away, so my grandma gives me time to make a list and then go home and think about it.

That's where you come in.

I've narrowed it down to seven books, but I want your opinions on them. Most of these I'd never even heard of before today (which is so exciting!), which means I'll need all the help I can get. If you've read any/all PLEASE take a minute to comment with your thoughts. In general I'm looking for two things:


By which I mean does it have more than 2 f-words. I'm fine with pretty much anything else. So here are the books:

Death Watch Ari Berk (Goodreads | Amazon)	Void Rhiannon Lassiter (Goodreads | Amazon)
My Thoughts: This one sounds AMAZING. Has anyone read it?	My Thoughts: This is an omnibus of a series that came out in the late 1990s/early 2000s. I’d never heard of it before. But it sounds super-cool.
Shadowcry Jenna Burtenshaw (Goodreads | Amazon)	Invasion Jon Lewis (Goodreads | Amazon)
My Thoughts: I know very little about this one, but the summary and cover were enough to catch my eye.	My Thoughts: This one sounds like it could be REALLY good, or REALLY lame. So… it makes me nervous.
Witchlanders Lena Coakley (Goodreads | Amazon)	the Thin Executioner Darren Shan (Goodreads | Amazon)
My Thoughts: I’ve seen this one floating around, but this was the first time I’d ever read the summary. It sounds good! Is it good?	My Thoughts: This one has a really good rating on GR, and I’ve been thinking about it since LAST Christmas.
Shatter Me Tahereh Mafi (Goodreads | Amazon)
My Thoughts: Okay. I know this is getting a lot of really great reviews lately, but I’m worried that the romance will turn me off and it’ll be just another book that TRIES to be paranormal, but is really just a romance. Is it really worth all the hype?

THANK YOU! I'll let y'all know which ones I choose! And if you're curious, here's the list from last year.

I saw that Nicole at WORD for Teens did this. And it looked super-fun! And I'm sick, ergo too lazy to write a review today. If you decide to do this, leave a link in the comments!

Age: This is one of those things that I never reveal, as it would compromise my secret identity. Muahaha!

Bed Size: Twin

Chore that you hate: I've always hated dusting the blinds. So tedious!

Dogs: I'd love to get a Shi-tzu or a Jack Russel Terrier some day.

Essential start to your day: Shower. I literally CAN NOT function if I have not showered in the morning.

Favorite colors: My favorite base color is bright green. But I like to pair it with pink, orange, blue... so... my blog colors.

Gold or silver: I'm actually a big fan of two-tone! Is that cheating? I'd like my [completely hypothetical] wedding ring to be a mix of both gold and white gold (which is silver-y).

Height: 5'9" I'm one inch away from being able to join the tall club.

Instruments you play: At one point in time I could play the piano, flute, guitar, and nose flute. Now I can make sound with all four, but can't really play a song...

Job title: Reptile handler, theatre teaching assistant, library page (No joke. All three.)

Kids: HA! I have younger siblings? Does that count?

Live: Happy Valley! (I'll leave it to you to figure out which one)

Overnight hospital stays: Um... once I stayed overnight for a drug trial... but it wasn't really at a hospital. Most of my hospital stays happened during my "I want to eat everything" phase. And I don't really remember it.

Pet peeves: Boy, howdy. Hows about I just leave this one blank? Your computer my crash if I wrote them all down.

Quote from a movie: "You ask a serious question, I'll give you a serious answer: Happy enough. I don't expect much. I don't get much, I don't give much. I generally enjoy whatever comes along. That's my answer for you, summed up for your feminine consideration. I'm happy enough."

Right or left-handed: Right.

Siblings: Two brothers.

Time you wake up: Do I have school? Then probably around 6-8:30 depending on the day. No school? Closer to 11.

Underwear: Have you seen this video? I know not to answer this question online.

Vegetable you hate: Most of them... but particularly anything cooked. I'm fine with most raw vegetables.

What makes you run late: Mostly the internet, but also sleepiness.

X-Rays you've had: Teeth, and back. (My neck and spine are backwards!)

Yummy food that you make: Hm... one time I made awesome cookies. I also like to make bread. But... I don't cook a lot.

Zoo animal: Tigers!

Just kidding. This post is purely for me, so I can remember the day my blog got on a poster.


That is all.

Now, I don't usually (read: never) post pictures of myself on the blog, but since my hair is one of the few things I HAVE show before I decided to do before & after pictures for y'all. So here you go:



It also looks like I went tanning this afternoon. I'm standing in front of the same wall in both pictures. I'm tanner than the before picture, but paler than the after picture.

But I digress. We're talking about hair.

THIS IS THE BEST DECISION I EVER MADE.

The only reason I had long hair was because I enjoyed the novelty of pulling it out of its bun and having people go "Woah! You have so much hair!" but what's the point of that? I NEVER wore my hair down because it was scraggly, and took forever to style, and got caught on everything. NOW my hair is sassy! I don't look like a polygamist anymore!

I'm very pleased. And I can't stop playing with it.

I feel like I would be a bad person if I didn't post something Harry Potter related today. And so, if you will excuse me, I will now ramble on about my feelings on the series. I shall try to be spoiler-free, but no promises. This is more something for me to look back on in 10 years and sniffle a little, rather than a blog post meant for other people. But as I don't keep a journal, here we go:

I was one of those stubborn children who refused to read Harry Potter just because everyone else was. Thank HEAVENS my grandmother is a teacher, and was able to finally convince me to read the series. I've never regretted it.

There are very few books that you can say changed your life. I think we can honestly say that Harry Potter changed the world. Even if you don't like it, or you adore it, you must admit that you've heard of it, and seen its effects.

I have never been a loud fan, I enjoy talking quietly with people about the books, and expressing my love in simple ways (I've been wearing an owl necklace all week). My favorite part of the books is when I would finish one, then immediately call up my friends and begin to discuss what it all might mean.

Over the last month I have been re-listening to all the audiobooks so that I can be as prepared as possible for the movie. I am glad to say that the audiobooks don't make me cry like the regular books. It would be very odd for me to begin sobbing while dusting the bookshelves at work.

This re-reading has given me a lot of questions. What's the American school for witchcraft? When is Hermione's birthday? How old is Voldemort? He must be over 60. If wizards have such a hard time dressing like muggles, why do so many seem to wear suits? These questions aren't really important, but they show how much I love this world. I want to know EVERYTHING.

HOWEVER, the books themselves make me sob every time. Last week (just for the heck of it) I decided to re-read the epilogue at the end of the last book. This was a mistake. I kept randomly bursting into tears throughout the day. Isn't it an amazing thing that a BOOK-- a fictional story-- can do that to a person?

And now, I would like to express my thanks to certain people who made the books so wonderful for me:

Dear Ron,

• Thank you for being the comic relief. This series would be incredibly sad without you.

Dear Hermione,

• Thank you for showing the world how cool it is to be smart.

Dear Ginny,

• I was totally apathetic towards you when I first read the books, but now I like you quite a lot. Thanks for being spunky.

Dear Neville,

• Thanks for never letting people get you down. You always know how to bounce right back, and are a great example of bravery. (And you totally deserved to grow up to be super-hot. Seriously. Have you seen the actor who plays him?)

Dear Dumbledore,

• Thank you for being the wisest person I've ever known. Some of the things you said will be in my heart forever.

Dear McGonagall,

• Thank you for being my favorite character. I want to be you when I grow up.

Dear Hagrid,

• Thanks for being loyal to a fault, and loving things that no one else does.

Dear Sirius,

• I'm pretty pissed at you, actually. I was scarred for life after book 5. That's just not right.

Dear Ravenclaw house,

• Thank you for being totally unnoticed and yet awesome. Seriously. Griffindor and Slytherin get all the attention. Even Hufflepuff gets a lot of attention (both because of Cedric Diggory in book 4, and just by the fact that it's a ridiculous house). You were always in the background (despite Cho Chang) and yet I know I would have been in your house. Much love.

Dear T & L,

• Thank you for being my favorite couple. I have a hard time thinking about you without getting teary.

Dear Harry,

• Thank you for inspiring a fabulous series. Thank you for always being brave, even though you were stupid a lot. In fact, I DON'T thank you for your attitude throughout all of book 5. I know you were going through the throes of puberty, but still, you were a jerk.

Dear Snape,

• Thanks for just being awesome.

I think that covers all the big ones... Perhaps I'll add more as they come to me.

And that's all I have to say.

This year I'm giving Armchair BEA a try. Today's prompt is "Who are you, and how do you Armchair?" Sounds simple enough. So here we go!

• Name: Enna Isilee. No, this isn't my real name. But I don't do anything with my real name online. I have a secret identity. I'm like a superhero!
• How Long I've been Blogging: Nearly FOUR years! But I didn't really catch my stride until a year ago.
• Favorite Author: Shannon Hale
• Favorite Book: Tie with Book of a Thousand Days and Enna Burning, both my Shannon Hale
• Social Networking: Twitter, GoodReads, FaceBook (Deleted! I've never felt so free!)
• Random Fact: My middle finger on my left hand is significantly longer than the middle finger on my right. That's 'cause the left one is a mutant.
• Hobbies: My primary hobby is reading (duh!), but I have also been known to sew, knit, graphic design, and watch TV.
• Why I'm Not at BEA: Since BEA happens only a month after the school year ends, I need to plan a year in advance in order to go. One year ago I was not in ANY kind of financial position to go. Plus, I didn't know anyone who would go with me (and I'm not about to fly off to New York on my own!). I hope to go next year, but I'm still not sure if anyone will go with me. Working on it.

And... I think that's all I have to say. If you have anything you'd like to know about me, feel free to ask in the comments! (*prepares for crickets*) 

 

Some of you may have heard me tweet about this, but I haven't announced it on the blog yet.

I have a new job!

Nearly two years ago I had to quit my job at my local library for various reasons. It was a very dark day. There's nothing quite like the community of library workers. If you don't know what I mean, spend a week volunteering at your library. You'll catch on pretty quick.

When I saw that a nearby library was hiring, I got really excited. This was my childhood library, and one of the biggest I'd ever been to (seriously. It's huge). When I walked inside for my interview I was suddenly flooded with memories of being 8 years old again, and all the secret places I would hide to read.

Crying is generally frowned upon at job interviews, so I contained myself.

The job was for a page position (for those of you who don't know, you page at a library for 3 years, then you become a squire for 5, and finally a librarian. It's kinda like becoming a knight, or getting a PhD. [For those of you who don't know, that was a joke. A page is someone who re-shelves books. Nothing fancy]) which is the same position I had held previously. So the interview was full of questions like "What did you do at __________ library?" "It says here you did some custodial work, such as?"

And then came an interesting question: "You put down that you know basic web design. Tell us about that."

I can tell you I wasn't expecting that question. I told them that I had done some really basic stuff for my previous library, and I designed and managed my own website. They were curious, and asked me if they could see my website. And then pulled up Squeaky Books right then and there. I was terrified. Instantly, I began to make really nervous comments like "I haven't reviewed in a long time.... and some of my old reviews aren't very good... I know that image is a little off center... I know that's not how you spell 'penguin'." Okay, I actually didn't say most of those, but I was thinking it.

But this story has a happy ending! About 20 minutes later I had the job. Did it have anything to do with Squeaky Books? Probably not. But I'm a library person again! Turns out that I actually clean more than I shelve. And at first I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be handling the books as much as I had before. BUT, cleaning a library is AWESOME. Especially cleaning this library. When I was a kid, this library was heaven. And now I have a chance to make it sparkle! I think my favorite part might be cleaning the big glass entrance doors. They look so good after they've been washed, and they're the first thing you see when you come in the library. My least favorite thing is definitely when I run into spiderwebs. I'm sure the spider is lurking nearby, waiting.

So that's it. I love being a library person. And I love it there. I work 7am-12pm EVERY DAY (except Saturday and Sunday), so there goes all my plans of having a sleep-filled summer, but it's good for me. Given the chance I'd sleep until noon. Now I'm already awake and alert by then!

This was really just a journal entry for me. But it was book related, and I didn't have any other post planned for today, so here ya go.

All right, here's that bookshelf tour I promised. It's a pretty rough video, but you get the general idea.

Just thought I'd update y'all. I'm not dead. Not yet, at least. My last "test" is in about 90 minutes, but then I have a monster paper due Thursday night. After that I'm free, but I'll probably spend Friday and Saturday catching up with my non-school life. So don't expect to see much of me until Monday.

Hope y'all are having a great week!