The Perfect Book

I'm proud to report that my Christmas shopping is now done, and I even picked up a blanket for the church's blanket drive for the homeless shelter. I feel so accomplished. Why is it that when I'm shopping for myself, nothing I like is available in my size, but when I'm shopping for a gift for someone else, everything I like for them is available in my size but not in the other person's size? Unless, of course, I'm not sure about something like the sizing (whether the sizes run large or small) or where the neckline will come and want to try on one in my size for comparison. Then they might have it in the other person's size and not mine, but I'm afraid to buy it because I'm not sure it will work. And if there's a really good sale and I decide to get something for myself, after all, then nothing I like will be in my size. It's maddening.

The Battlestar Galactica thing last night was very cool. I'll switch the conventional wisdom from yesterday's post and say that one of the great things was that while it was a very tense, dramatic episode, it also had some laugh-out-loud funny stuff that really brought down the house (and that made it fun to watch in a group). No spoilers, but there's this one scene that's a very tense confrontation that's also absolutely hilarious in a dark, dry way because of deadpan snark delivery and brilliant reactions. It's also a HUGE cliffhanger, so if you hate waiting on stuff like that, tape or Tivo the episode and then wait until late January to watch it so you won't be left in suspense. The entire audience screamed in frustration when that "to be continued" came on the screen at the end. Of course, I'm going to watch it again tonight because this was more of a rough cut. It was very grainy, and there were a couple of spots with just a green screen and "insert fx here" placeholders.

Oh, and no shirtlessness, but there were bare arms that loomed nicely on the big screen, and the blue eyes showed up in spite of the grainy film quality and weird lighting (it may not have been color corrected yet -- it looked like the rough cut of Serenity).

So, following up on yesterday's post, what is it about a book that makes me love it? My favorite thing is when I laugh out loud at least once while reading it, and then cry a little near the end. The crying doesn't have to be from sadness, just strong emotion. A good happy ending when I really care about the characters can make me cry. I prefer a good "point of no return" zone that has me frantically turning pages and unable to put it down until the end. I like a book that has at least one or two lines that I want to read out loud to someone or remember for myself. And then I like it when there's something about the book that lingers in my mind. It may be because it makes me think about my own life and re-evaluate my own choices and decisions. It could be because the characters captivated me so much that I can't help but imagine what's next for them or what came before the book. So, that's basically my perfect book.

Speaking of perfect books, I guess I'd better get to work on one if I ever want to be published again.