Bookslide

[dejadrew]

bookblather posted a book meme that looked like fun, figured I'd give it a whirl.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4-7 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag five people. Tag yer own darn self. I'm sleepy!

"Nearest book," in my case, is, em.... Look, I am currently currently experiencing a boom stage in the book population cycle. So when you say "nearest," I start to ask things like "by nearest, do you mean the book at the TOP of the towering stack, or the one at eye-level?"

I'll go with the "close eyes, stick a hand out, start groping, hope you do not trigger a massive bibliographic avalanche" method of selection.

Lessee, here.... *fumble fumble* AHA! It's, uh, whoops, sorry, that's a DVD box set. I just bought The Real Ghostbusters volume 2. I gotta start watching that, "Ragnarok and Roll" is on there. Moving on...

*flail wildly* *BUMP* Aha, it's... huh, I haven't actually read this one yet. Part of the reason for the current booksplosion is that I scored a whole bunch of paperbacks off my aunt during a recent visit. I expressed concern that I might not have enough books for the plane ride home, and she pointed me in the direction of a large box she had been planning to take to the church rummage sale. I descended upon it like unto a maddened shark with a taste for printer's ink instead of blood. A number of Patricia Briggs books emerged from that frenzy, including this one, Dragon Bones. Let's see what we got.... *flip flip*

            The sorrowful little tune drifted through his mind. Something he'd heard at an inn somewhere in that stupid search for an elusive slave girl. Coward's hero. He liked that; it described him perfectly.

Huh. Your guess is as good as mine. Well, I look forward to finding out the context.

I feel like I should have lines from something I've actually READ. It feels like... I dunno, either cheating or unfair otherwise. If that book is brilliant and owning it is an example of excellent taste in literature, then I haven't earned the cool points I just got from quoting it! If it's tripe, then it's not my fault, because I didn't know any better and haven't had the chance to trade it out or bury it under the bed for shame! Let's try again....

*FLAIL scramble poke clink rustle tumble clatter THUMP*

Ow.

Annnnnd it's.... Tokyo Babylon, Volume 4, by CLAMP. Hmm, may have to fudge this a bit, I doubt any given page of Tokyo Babylon HAS more than five lines. Let's just quote page 123 in its entirety. Hell, let's just SHOW page 123 in its entirety, because you lose so damn much without the imagery:



Aw. I actually kinda love this scene. The one hundred-billionth bit is a bit melodramatic, but this thing WAS aimed at teen girls. The girl with the braids that Subaru is talking to is a victim of severe bullying, and she's been getting a lot of shit advice from teachers and parents and religious counsellors about how to deal. If you just do THIS, you can fix it. If you act THIS way, say THIS, believe THIS, it will go away. If it doesn't, you're not trying hard enough. And anyway, it's not that bad. Subaru is the first person to actually say to her, I don't know what to tell you. It is horrible. I don't know what it's like, and I don't have the right to give you advice.

Hear that faint whoosh? That is the sound of millions of twelve year old girls hiding in bathroom stalls simultaneously punching the air. Fuck YEAH, Subaru. Fuck yeah.

And now, I have just enough time to watch an episode of Ghostbusters before bed.

Comments

[bookblather.livejournal.com]

Heh, I totally know how the avalanche of books feeling feels. All of mine are on bookshelves now, but there were definitely some collapses in the getting them there. Why are books so hard, man.

[dejadrew.livejournal.com]

It has been a long time since all my books were on a bookshelf. Since that time, they have multiplied so alarmingly that I strongly suspect there is not enough bookshelf. THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH BOOKSHELF.

Oh, well. If I am caught in a bookslide, trapped for days under a mountain of shifting paperbacks, at least I shall have plenty to read while awaiting the rescue party.

[bookblather.livejournal.com]

The only reason I have enough bookshelf space is because ninety percent of my library is in boxes for when I move. I fully expect a shortage as soon as they come out.