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[graculus]

Seems like an age since I last posted, though it was only Tuesday, but since that was pre-graduation day I can understand why - life has been a bit of a whirl this week, what with taking a couple of days off because my mother was visiting to see me don the cap and gown. If you want to know more about my special day, let me know in the comments and I'll wax lyrical...

Meanwhile, the book blog continues apace as I try my hardest to read my own weight in books. Or work my way through the literary equivalent of my annual council tax, whichever comes first. I'm currently on book #44 (Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, which needs to get better real soon, or it really will be history!).

The last list I posted was for February and March, so here's another one of what I've read since then, and there's plenty more waiting in the TBR pile (both library and bought, for which my bank manager thanks me):

Temeraire: Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
Black Sun Rising by Celia Friedman
The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters
The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston
The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
A Conspiracy of Violence by Susanna Gregory
Resurrectionist by James McGee
Keeping It Real by Justina Robson
The Fire's Stone by Tanya Huff
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
Cuba Libre by Elmore Leonard
The Shadow Walker by Michael Walters
The Somnabulist by Jonathan Barnes
Hinterland by James Clemens
The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard
Dawnthief by James Barclay
A Very English Agent by Julian Rathbone
The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison
World's End by Mark Chadbourn
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Cold Hunter's Moon by KC Greenlief
Temeraire: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
The Sultan's Seal by Jenny White

However, this weekend's major job now I've decompressed from the maternal visit is to get some writing done on my Wild Wild West story before the baying editors hunt me down with torches (the firey kind, not the UK flashlight equivalent), though technically I have till early September to pacify them with New Orleans-themed fic of some description.

That's for tomorrow. I'm off to bed now, so sweet porny dreams to one and all! :)

Comments

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I'd love to hear more about your day.

And wow! All the books! I used to read so much, and now I read fanfic and LJ posts.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Well, I only agreed to go through with the whole rigmarole for my mother's sake, since I didn't finish my first degree and she's 80 next year so she might not be around to see the equivalent if I decide to do something further...

The university in question was doing a real production line thing and we were the last of five graduation ceremonies that day, but that meant it wasn't particularly rushed, so I could get my cap and gown and get photos (solely for my mother's benefit, as I hate having my picture taken) and then wander over to the ceremony. I was getting a Masters, so the hoods were red with gold piping while the ordinary degree people were in gold, and we had more elaborate gowns. They helped us put them on properly and the sleeves were almost floor-length (your hands come out of them elsewhere) and the woman who was helping me asked if I'd ever seen House of Flying Daggers. ;)

Our course was the first to graduate at this ceremony so I was literally the front row. Which also meant I got to be at the front of the line when we did the procession out. What I didn't realise (thank god) was that when I was getting my degree from the Vice Chancellor and such, there was a camera right on us and a video screen at the back so everyone could see me grinning like an idiot. *headdesk*

As for the books, I realised last year I wasn't reading much any more and decided to do something about that, particularly since a chunk of my council tax goes to pay for the libraries so the books there are technically mine! ;)

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

and we were the last of five graduation ceremonies that day,

Wow! That's a lot of ceremonies.

It sounds like a cool day, though. You wore gowns with hoods? I'm trying to imagine if they're anything like the type of gowns that graduates wear here (U.S.). They sound quite different.

It was very sweet of you to go through the ceremony for your mom. I hate having my picture taken also, but did you also get pictures of the ceremony itself? With the big grin? Those might be cool to have in the future. *g*

May I ask what your degree is in or for or..whatever the proper word is? *g* Will your job change at all now?

As for the books, I realised last year I wasn't reading much any more and decided to do something about that, particularly since a chunk of my council tax goes to pay for the libraries so the books there are technically mine! ;)

That's true! I have tried to remedy my lack of book reading this summer somewhat, but with limited success. I'm reading all the Harry Potter books again before the next comes out, but have barely touched the other stack of books that my daughter and I set out in a stack to read this summer. I always have a stack of books that I carry around with me and some that I leave on the table in the family room or by the bed or whatever, so I'm always reading, but I can't remember the last time (until this summer) when I just sat around and read for a long period--unless it was fanfic. *g*

I think I'm probably reading more words now, it's just less productive, I guess.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

The caps are definitely good for your deportment, since they really make you think about how you're standing/walking. The hoods have a piece that goes across the front from one shoulder to the other in a sort of v-shape that has a piece underneath to hook over a button or be pinned in place.

Our gowns are all open ones, which is unlike the ones they have in the US I think. You're supposed to wear something plain underneath (though one woman degree student had this awful lime green jacket on that clashed with her hood, which was gold), and you have to order them by height so they come down to about calf-length when you're standing.