rather a lot of books

[rivendellrose]

I went out shopping for books for my trip this weekend (last night to Elliot Bay Book Company, and today to Half Price Books), and... I think I may have slightly over done it? I have this thing where I sort of get out of control with books. It's like any other addiction - if you allow yourself to take even one drink (or, in my case, buy one book)... it just leads to going nuts and overdoing it. Sooo... I'm a lot more poor, but I have a lot of awesome books. Yay.

I'm also having occasional teensy-tiny little nervous breakdowns about OMG LEAVING ON WEDNESDAY. Well. Technically, going to LA on Wednesday night, and then omg leaving-for-real on Thursday morning. But still. Same diff, in a general sense. Either way, it's all very suddenly immediate and I'm only freaking out a tiny bit, really, of course. Really. Hah.

Expect a near-constant state of panic between now and Thursday. And then silence, hopefully followed by a triumphant "News From Tokyo!" kind of post on Friday night. Well... assuming the hostel really does have Wifi. If not, the triumphant post might have to wait until I can find a local internet cafe. :D

But that's not yet. Not until Friday. Until then.... yeah. Until then, it's all over but two more days of work, and a lot of packing and panicking and general fuss and worry. Wheeeeee.

Comments

[ikona-rakasha.livejournal.com]

I am going to be in Tokyo on saturday if you wanted a guide for the day. Hanging around harajuku mostly but wanted to cheak out Gyoza stadium as well if you are interested.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Oh, awesome! We're going to be based out of Asakusa, but I'm sure we can meet up with you, and if I remember right Harajuku was one of the areas I'd been interested in checking out. :D

[ikona-rakasha.livejournal.com]

Great, I am meeting up with some friends outside the rainbow gates of Takeshidori (the main drag of Harajuku) around 11:45-12:00 ish if you feel interested. I can show you all the hidden shops and cheap places if you like. Look for the red headed loligoth holding a sign hehehe :D

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I'll try to ping you with a solid yes-or-no once we're there, but fair warning - I expect to be totally jet-lagged out of my brain, so please don't take it personally if I space on you. This'll be my first experience with jet-lag on an international scale, and I have a great fear it'll turn me into a slavering moron for the first few days. :P

[ikona-rakasha.livejournal.com]

That is what train napping is for. the only real way to get over jetlag is to force yourself to wake up that first day and exhaust yourself. You may be tired and cranky but... go out for a few hours *nods*

Plus coffee shops are everywhere. I love my instant whenever needed 300 yen coffee

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm going to try really really really hard to just throw myself out there and keep to the local schedule. :D

Alas, the coffee and I have a love-hate kind of relationship that involves me getting super-annoying (totally non-life-threatening but very upsetting) heart wobblies if I drink too much caffeine... where "too much" is more like a normal person's "some." :P But the good news about that is that I've been on restricted caffeine for so long that a little goes a long way for me. :D

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

When we go on vacation Erik buys enough books so he can go through one a day - new fiction, non-fiction about the economy or technology, and other stuff. Most if it's pretty good, and I don't go through a book a day, so I usually bring home three or four of the books I didn't get to. (The rest we tend to donate to the local library.)

Also, if everything goes as it should, the new "Wheel Of Time" book will arrive the day before we leave. Erik pre-ordered it for me and he has some special shipping deal with Amazon. The last (11 or 12?) books have been 700+ pages long, and I savor a book like that.

Of course, I'm always willing to go to the bookstore to "look around."

I hope you have a great trip!

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I tend to bring a small library of paperbacks with me when I travel, on the theory that at least one will turn out not to be good, and that I'll get into moods where some of them will not be anything I want to read (I tend to read several books at a time, so I have to have the opportunity to switch gears, especially on long trips).

Good luck with the new Wheel of Time! I've heard good things from friends about the guy they've got finishing them. I hope you'll post what you think? I've been avoiding them on the principle that I try to stay away from unfinished series that look like they might not ever end, but if the last few turn out to be generally considered worthwhile, I might have to drag myself through the whole thing. ;)

For me, my 'monster-sized' book this trip will be Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I've been putting that one off a long time, and a 12+ hr flight seems like the perfect time to take it up.

Thank you! I hope you do, too!

[lacrimaeveneris.livejournal.com]

Eek! Well, good luck, try not to panic TOO much. Also, what books?

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Thank you, and I'll try!

Umm... let's see.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
The Court of the Air - Stephen Hunt
Contact - Carl Sagan
The Scar - China Mieville
Big Bang - Simon Singh
RuneMarks - Joanne Harris
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs

There were some other purchases as well (one Sandman collection, a replacement of my copy of Terry Pratchett's Jingo, a Tanya Huff Valor novel, and four Hellboy graphic novels - but those aren't coming to Japan with me. They're just because I couldn't not buy them. ♥)

[lacrimaeveneris.livejournal.com]

Oooo... Sandman. I could never finish Jonathan Strange for some reason... I should try it again, it's been a few years. Year of Living Biblically is absolutely, utterly hysterical.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping that being stuck on a plane with it will help... ;)

Yay! I'm glad to hear a recommendation of that one - it just looked too awesome not to get.

(and I suppose I should say "I don't think any of those are coming with me. The Hellboy definitely aren't because a few of them are signed by Mignola (be still my heart) and I don't want them getting hurt, and the Sandman is hardcover and I don't want to carry anything big. But the others might if I have space. :D)

[lacrimaeveneris.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, the Sandman books are kind of ginormous.

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

I've read Contact, Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and I just started The year of living Biblically.
I haven't heard of the others. Let me know what you think, I'm always looking for good books.
It souinds like you gave yourself the day off from work Wednsday, that will help keep your stress level down hopefully!

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

You bet! And yeah, I've always had Weds. off - originally it was just because I wasn't sure what time my flight was going to be, but I certainly wasn't going to go back and change it, given how likely it is that I'll have to do running around that day. :D