I’m at a point in my life where I feel the need to focus on positive things coming in my future, in order to avoid wallowing in the misery of my present.  So, since I’m not reading anything particularly fabulous right now anyway (the 2nd Mitford book – it’s cute, but not fabulous), I thought I’d post about some of the books I’m waiting to read.  Why am I waiting, you ask?  Well, it varies, depending on the book.  Some aren’t published yet, so I’m waiting for that to happen.  Some are published, but I’m either in line to get them from the library sometime this year or I’m waiting until I have a little extra cash so I can make a trip to the book store.  Also, one is on its way to me in the mail.  So, let’s see, what’s on my “to be read” imaginary bookshelf?

WARNING:  Major Spoiler Alerts for ALL books!

1. City of Glass, by Cassandra Clare
This is the 3rd book in a trilogy, and I can’t wait to see how Clare wraps up the series.  I’ve really gotten into the first two, which I discovered this year from the Florida Teens Read list.  In the first two, Clary Fray learns that she is a descendant of another world, one where heroes called Shadowhunters battle demons and other nasties.  Then she falls in love with another shadowhunter, only to find out he’s her brother.  Then, surprise! their dad turns out to be the source of all evil in their world, and now they have to hunt him down and defeat him or suffer serious consequences.  So in book 3, it all comes down to Clary’s ability to save the world, or die a horrible death.  I can’t wait!

2. Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris.
This is book 9 in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series.  I’ve read the other 8, all twice, and I can’t WAIT to find out what happens next!  What’s up for the Sookie/Eric/Bill triangle?  What’s going to happen with her telepathic nephew, Hunter?  What will Louisiana be like under the rule of a new vampire king?  Will Jason and Crystal finally DIE already?  Is Sandra Pelt off Sookie’s back for good?   Answers to these questions coming in May, when the book is published!  Or, at least, I HOPE I’ll find the answers.  Knowing Harris, I’ll find more questions, too, but that’s okay.  I’m not looking for this series to end any time soon.

3. Hunted, by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.
This is the next in the House of Night series of books about teenage vampires in the midwest.  It has been out for a while, but I can’t seem to get it from the library, and I have to wait for a financial windfall to buy it (of course this is the first one published in hardcover, making it more expensive than the others in the series).  I’m anxious to see if Zoey and her friends will defeat their evil former mentor, and set things aright in the vampire school they attend.  Plus, what will happen to the new red fledglings?  They kind of creep me out, personally, but I hope for Stevie Rae’s sake that they turn out okay.

4. Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity, by Melissa Marr.
This would be books 2 and 3 of the Wicked Lovely series by Marr.  Aislinn is a girl who always knew faeries existed, but tried to pretend that they didn’t.  Unfortunately, that backfired when Keenan, the Faery Summer King, made her his queen (pretty much against her will).  So now, she’s stuck ruling this world she avoided all her life, and trying to balance that with a relationship with her human boyfriend, Seth.  I’m really excited to read the story from a slightly different point of view in Ink Exchange, and then get back to full-time Aislinn/Keenan/Seth/Donia in Fragile Eternity.

5. 201 Crochet Motifs, Blocks, Projects, and Ideas by Melody Griffiths.
I am exchanging this book for some of my stash yarn with a Ravelry buddy.  I’m really excited, because I have been needing to thin out my stash for a while anyway, and this gal has only ever used Red Heart yarn.  Can you imagine?  She hasn’t ever knit with anything better than that, so I’m looking forward to sending her a variety of fibers and brands in exchange for this cool new book.  The book includes motifs and blocks, which are just handy to have around, but also combines that with project ideas for what to do with them.  Sounds like fun!

So, what’s on your imaginary bookshelf, waiting for you?

Here is this week’s Booking Through Thursday prompt:

My husband is not an avid reader, and he used to get very frustrated in college when teachers would insist discussing symbolism in a literary work when there didn’t seem to him to be any. He felt that writers often just wrote the story for the story’s sake and other people read symbolism into it.

It does seem like modern fiction just “tells the story” without much symbolism. Is symbolism an older literary device, like excessive description, that is not used much any more? Do you think there was as much symbolism as English teachers seemed to think? What are some examples of symbolism from your reading?

So, I have to say, I agree that a lot of modern literature seems to lack symbolism, but it certainly isn’t dead.  I do think there’s a lot of symbolism in literature both old and new, some of it intentional and some of it maybe not.  As an English major, I had to be a symbol-hunter in college.  As an English teacher, I help my students find and work through symbols in literature.  But when I read for pleasure, I ignore the symbolism most of the time.  I just want to read the book, that’s all.

To provide an example, the Twilight series (for all its other good and bad qualities) has a lot of symbolism in it.  Even the titles and the covers of the books function symbolically.  Come to think of it, most vampire literature contains symbolism (we all know what those fangs really stand for, har de har). 

You can find symbols almost everywhere in literature, but you just have to look.  Or, in my case, to choose not to look.

… look at these!!

I stole this pic off etsy. Look for the link later in the post.

 I have fond memories from my childhood of the boxes of Aunt Charlotte’s candies that my grandparents would send us.  A big, giant box of assorted chocolates – yum!  It was always a crap shoot, though, because Aunt Charlotte’s does not come with a chart telling you the contents of each chocolate.  So while you might get lucky with a caramel or buttercream, you might also bite into the dreaded marzipan.  Ugh.  I don’t think I’ve ever spit out chocolate in my life, except for chocolate tainted with marzipan filling.

However, today I was browsing on Etsy and I found a new love for marzipan.  Mostly because of what it can do.  LOOK at those awesome cupcakes up there!  And for my omnivorous friends (ahem, Steph), they’re vegan, too.  This only makes them less appealing to my palette, but it does nothing to reduce their visual appeal.  Those things are AMAZING!! 

If you want to know how to make these for yourself, visit the Etsy Storque here.  And while you’re at it, maybe you can figure out how to make these out of something yummier than marzipan, huh?

I’ve been on a massive blogging hiatus lately, including my Booking Through Thursday responses.  So, I’m back in the saddle, at least for this week.  Here are the questions:

Q:  Are you currently reading more than one book?
A:  No.  Sometimes I do this, but right now I’m not reading anything at all.  I just finished re-reading Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones last night, and I am going to start the sequel (City of Ashes) tonight.

Q:  If so, how many books are you currently reading?
A:  Oops, I explained that already.  Eh.

Q:  Is this normal for you?
A:  For now, yes.  When I was in college, I might read several books at once for all of my separate English classes.  Now, I usually only read 2 at a time at the most.  Sometimes I read a book for use on enotes.com (I’m an editor there, so I re-read books that are frequently the subject of questions) and another one for pleasure reading.  But usually I just read one at a time, albeit rather quickly.

Q:  Where do you keep your current reads?
A:  Usually they end up wherever I left them last.  If I read in bed, they’re on my nightstand.  If I read in the living room, they’re on the buffet table or on the couch or coffee table.  If I’m reading at school, I keep them in my purse to transport back and forth to school/home.

No, I’m not dead.  It’s just that I think the parasite (aka infant) in my abdomen is sucking out all my creative vibes.  The lovely scarf in my last post?  Yeah, it’s still just that long.  Oh, well, it’s not exactly scarf season anyway, right?

So anyway, I thought I’d take some time to review Disney World.  Why not?  I’ve been spending a lot of time there since we moved here, and I’m happy to report that it is STILL the happiest place on earth, though some of the magic is lost with repeated visits.

All the parks are fun, though for different reasons.  We have a hard time at Epcot with our kids, as they have no interest in touring the countries.  Mike and I have often remarked, though, that it’d be a fun place to go for date night.  They have an awesome band that plays in England (Off Kilter), and nicer, grown-up restaurant choices.  The space-themed rides are fun, too, but I have to ask:  what happened to the place that smelled like oranges?  I don’t know what it was, I just remember a ride that talked about the future of hydroponic farming, and it smelled like oranges when you went through that part.  Hmpf.

MGM Studios has now been re-named Hollywood Studios, and I still love “Muppet Vision 4-D” even though it hasn’t changed in several years.  Still love the Muppet shop attached to it, too – I’m a sucker for commercialism, what can I say?  Will (age 5 for a few more weeks) likes the Star Wars ride and store, and both kids enjoy the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” playground and the live performance from the Playhouse Disney pals.  I highly recommend avoiding the “Little Mermaid” show, however; Ariel can’t carry a tune, and I nearly felt blood dripping from my ears by the end.

The safari at Animal Kingdom is fun, as is their little dino-land full of fair-esque rides.  That’s about it.

For families, Magic Kingdom is still the best park.  It’s fun to do a FEW things at the other parks, but only good ol’ MK really caters to the kiddies.  The Carousel of Progress has been updated over the years to accommodate changing progress, but it still rocks.  Even my kids liked it, surprisingly enough.  Some classics have NOT been messed with, such as Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion; all of these rides tend to scare the kiddos a little, but oh well.  The Tiki Tiki Room is under new management of Zazu (The Lion King) and Iago (Aladdin), so that’s fun.  Tomorrowland sports a fun Buzz Lightyear laser-gun ride that the kids (and the hubby) really get into, as well as a Monster’s Inc. comedy show that interacts with the audience in very cool ways. 

I have discovered something, however, about a former childhood favorite ride:  You know it, you love it, it’s It’s a Small World.  Or, as I have now come to call it, the Great Racist Boat Ride.  So, here’s the gist, for those of you who only remember the annoying theme song:  first, you travel through countries full of singing dolls in full-color.  You of course hit the European nations first, and Africa is at the very end (mostly full of jungle animals with only a few people, I might add).  Then, in a display of unity, the last room is full of characters from all of the countries, united in song.  Their song is, of course, now entirely in ENGLISH.  And their costumes?  Oh, yes.  They’ve all been turned pale and dressed in white.  Hmmmm ….

We may be leaving sunny Florida this summer, fleeing a really crappy job and job market for greener pastures elsewhere.  If that’s the case, I really will miss our regular Disney visits; but maybe not the Small World ride.