Okay, there are few horrors to reviewing books. the worst thing about it? Really and truly the thing i hate the most? Even more than getting a book from a friend and not liking it (this always saddens me, makes me feel guilty and mean-spirited. how can i nt like a friend's work? she's such a great person. I've loved him for years.) Of course it happens. But i still hate it.

Worse yet is simply the receipt of a book i've been anticipation for ages, for weeks and months, oh boy, I know it's coming, i love this series and SPLAT. I don't like it. Often the feeling is shaded from general disappointment to gloom when I realize/remember that I had gotten the book from the author, publisher, my editor, so i could review it. I've talked about how i'm not a "finish every book you start" reader. I am of late, often a "finish it and see if things get better" reader, who's invested her time and thinks "maybe, maybe". Reading is one of the great joys of my life and I want to enjoy every damn minute. It's just not possible. I really would like every review i write to be positive and enthusiastic. i know, i know, that makes me useless as a reviewer, but disappointment is a nasty thing to deal with in these circumstances.

Stu gets books too, as he is a judge for the award for alternate history, the Sidewise Award. On occasion, that means our reading/bookpiles overlap. we have wildly/widely varying tastes, so this doesn't happen a lot, but there have been times when i've poached off his pile. Sometimes it's just pure interest in reading something that sounds good (Naomi Novik's brilliant Temeraire series, for example. Or Jo Walton's What you Haven't Read These what are you waiting for run out immediately and get them trilogy beginning with FARTHING. And i believe I mentioned somewhere that years ago, when the recipient actually emailed thanks to all the judges, and i saw an email from stephen Fry thank stu for honoring him for MAKING HISTORY, an amazingly brilliant book (this is redundant, this is Stephen Fry, a genius and perhaps what they mean by "Renaissance Man" nowadays) (oh sorry, I am babbling) but um well when i saw the email from Stephen Fry, i put my hand up against the iMac's screen, so that i could try to touch the pixels of email from a master. STEPHEN FRY. Oh, My. God.

But then there are the horrors. Getting alternate history books in the house once meant that we had a book by Newt Gingrich in the house. This, in my estimation is not a good thing. It's a very bad thing and you can't exactly spray for it, but I maybe should look into sage and a cleansing ceremony.

Then there was this morning. A package, delivered probably late yesterday and not seen until i went out for the newspaper. And Stu, on his way to the annual Sound of the Baskervilles' wreath toss, opened the package. he did tell me something about what it was - i was pretty bleary still - but then handed me the prize.

I now own "The official Munchkin Cthulhu Bookmark of Unspeakable Doom"

That's almost good enough to just leave it, but a bit of explanation. Steve Jackson Games (remember them? The ATF sure does) (see http://www.sjgames.com/SS/) has put out, apparently, a game called"Munchkin Cthulu" (who knew?) and there's a new one out. it's number 3,"The Unspeakable Vault. (where do you get that special drippy font anyway) Should I choose to use the bookmark in the game, I would need 10 Doodads. i could then begin collecting Doodads of Doom.

My day is made. The joy, the rapture of wandering around the house muttering "munchkin Chtulu" makes me very happy. We had been exclaiming "spork, spork spork" to each other of late, as well as "spock spork" (see think Geek and remember, only 1701 of them have been made.) But i just get to think about the concept of "doodads of doom" and to appreciate that i have the official mind you, the official Munchkin Cthulu Bookmark of Unspeakable Doom. it's a damn drizzly "I'm probably not going to get a lot done" day. But oh, i'm ever so happy.