Yesterday afternoon I was feeling bleaghhh, unmotivated on my writing, and out of interesting books to read. Then Patrick came home from a shopping trip and said, "Close your eyes and hold out your hands." I did. Then I opened my eyes.

My husband knows me so well. He'd put a paper Starbucks carrier bag into my hands that held one bag of whole espresso beans, Naomi Novik's new Temeraire novel, Empire of Ivory, and the DVD of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I couldn't even believe my luck. I just gaped at the bag for a few minutes, like a mirage that might disappear at any moment.

Then I spent the rest of the day and this morning reading like crazy. And the best news is - Empire of Ivory is amazing. I absolutely loved the first Temeraire novel, I really, really enjoyed Books 2 and 3 - but Empire of Ivory is now by far my favorite, a whole step forward for the series as a whole. I was blown away by how imaginative it was, how much scope and unity it had as a novel, the dazzling way she handles sweeping changes in her alternate history timeline, and the sheer emotional impact of the whole book - and especially the ending, which was a huge shock but one that had been beautifully set up throughout the book, without me ever realizing it until then.

And the last page left me desperate to read the next book. Why is Book 5 not out yet??????

Sigh.

But I've had one really good consolation since then - in an attempt to rectify my infamous dearth of 80s music knowledge, Justina and her partner bought a huge compilation of 80s music hits, and I've been listening to the CDs ever since they passed them on to me this morning. I was very proud to actually recognize a whopping 3 of the songs so far ("Walk Like An Egyptian", "I Think We're Alone Now", and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"), and I've been having a lot of fun listening to all of them. They're so high-energy and upbeat and fun, they're perfect Kat writing music.

And either tonight or tomorrow we're going to re-watch Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. So I'm in just about the perfect weekend mood. :)