for now, until then

The first few days of 2009 have been good so far. Now that I'm finished with school only work occupies my days and takes up far less time during the evening so I've been catching up on some of the things I've been missing due to lack of time. One of those is reading for pleasure. School required tons of reading, but all of it from text books. Being able to dive back into the world of fiction has been very nice indeed. 

One of the first things I did in the new year was to head to the used book store. I was looking for a recommendation from my aunt, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde but I couldn't locate it anywhere. Once I had given up the hunt I found myself drawn to my usual section - the young adult section. I always seem to have more luck locating great fantasy novels in this section over any other (even the Sci Fi/Fantasy section). I've had luck here in the past with His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman so I always give it a look over. I ended up with two books: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. 

I've already begun The Book of Lost Things and am enjoying it so far. It's well written and besides the main character being a young boy doesn't seem to be a book written only for younger readers, which most of the time I find to be the case. It's a fantasy set in WWII London about a boy who finds comfort in his books after the loss of his mother.

Besides reading I'm also trying to keep up with other things I've let fall by the wayside during school whether I particularly enjoy them or not - such as the much needed (and deserved) cleaning of my apartment and trying to start exercising more regularly. Both have started out well: I tackled the bathroom today (the most dreaded of the rooms besides the kitchen) and went out for a jog before dinner. Here's to hoping I hold myself to it. Reading is much easier to keep up, if you ask me.

For now, crochet has taken the back burner, though. Other things are occupying my mind and time even if sometimes it's just taking a lazy afternoon nap (a joy never quite appreciated to its fullest during college). 

I hope everyone's '09 is looking as clean, lazy, and well-read as mine. Take care!