I have not died, nor have I devolved into illiteracy...

... I've just had some stuff going on. I've been reading The Help of course (and finding it much more engrossing than anticipated) and picking at some other things. I had one of those little fits of used-book ordering about a week ago (because of course I don't have enough books) and those have all arrived now. I'm not likely to write a post about the A-Z of Goldwork with Silk Embroidery or Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Costume, but I might muster a little review of the other two eventually.

One is Better Than Beauty, a reprinted style/etiquette guide from the 1930s. I have a special place in my heart for advice literature; I find it soothing. When I'm especially stressed out, you might find me trawling Google Books for interesting and entertaining snippets of wisdom like, "Dandyism is never more out of place than on the glacier, or among the Norwegian salmon fisheries." Better Than Beauty is a very modern and urbane specimen of the genre and, if you're weird like me, well suited for bedtime reading. (This has been your odd insight into my psyche for the day.)

The other is a Norton critical edition of selected works by Christine de Pizan.

I've got more than enough to read, so of course I'm thinking that what I really want to read is something totally different. Namely: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. My roommate has the first six movies, and last Thursday night as I was waiting for a ride, I caught up by watching numbers 5 and 6 (yes, the ride was exceptionally late). I stopped reading the books, lo these many years ago, partway through #5 (Order of the Phoenix), and while I think I know all of the big shocking things that happen in the books after that, watching the two movies was fun and exciting. Maybe this makes me a bad reader or something, but I think part of my problem was that I was having a hard time feeling the increased tension in the books. I didn't quite get that the stakes were being raised, it just seemed like everyone was getting more overwrought. (That, and Tonks was a horrible, cliche, obnoxious character.) Anyway, whatever was going on with me back then, watching the movies the other night I understood what was going on much better, and now I'm thinking that, rather than borrow the last two movies from people, maybe I should just read the book. Which I would be borrowing from my roommate. Hey, JK Rowling doesn't need my money.