Like a Thrifty Man's Butter

Which is to say, spread a little thin. I don't have much to report from the wide world of literature and libraries, because when you're reading four books, you're barely reading at all. I'm almost done with Gavin de Becker's The Gift of Fear (which everyone should read, by the way, because it's an excellent guide to how to think about personal safety by a very smart guy who does this for a living). It's a reread, and a fast book anyway, so that'll be done tonight, I'm sure.

I've started Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon, which is not horrible, but not great. I've already cleared the 20% mark, so I'll probably finish it (it'll probably take another three hours, so it's not that much of an investment). It's promising me a murder mystery, but so far it's mostly about an outsider of a little girl observing another child's hardscrabble life with horrified fascination, which I'm feeling, too. Then there are the modern-day bits, in which the grown-up girl is dealing with her mother's growing dementia. Really, what I've read so far sounds like a bit of an Oprah book (which would be fine; I like a lot of Oprah books), but it's kind of dry, and I think someone's going to get murdered.

Oh, also the main character's name is Kate Cypher. I certainly hope they explain that in a way that makes it okay that her name is so on the nose.

Charmed Thirds, Megan McCafferty. Not quite as densely smart and angsty as and Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings (why is high school angst so much less annoying than college angst?), but still smart and angsty, and I'm loving it. (Aside: why does blogger say I'm spelling "angsty" wrong two of these times, but not the first one? Is it accusing me of overusing a word that quite possibly doesn't legitimately exist? Guilty as charged.)

To Say Nothing of the Dog. I'm really enjoying this, but I have to force myself not to rush it, because it's not that kind of book.

Library school starts in just a couple of weeks, and I've managed to convince myself that I'm not going to be scared out of my mind until the week after next. Really I'm scared out of my mind right now, but I'm letting all those feelings float away....like a leaf in a stream....a very, very anxious leaf....