Library Thing

Library Thing

I saw this on boingboing.net the other day, but feel compelled to mention it here.  Library Thing is an online resource where you can catalog your home library, all the way down to using call numbers to organize it.  I’m still playing around with it, trying to figure out the best way to use it (right now, I’m posting my reviews and ratings there, and using it to generate recommended reading for me), but it looks pretty powerful.

Check it out.

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Pretties

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

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I want to talk about Pretties, since it is just as good and emotional as the first book in this series, Uglies, but I’m afraid that if I do, I’ll spoil part of that book for those of you who have yet to read it. So I’m going to refrain from a lot of details in this review.

I will say this, though: From the beginning, the author has made it clear that Uglies is the first book in a trilogy, and he also makes the titles of the sequels quite clear. It’s Uglies, followed by Pretties, and then concluded with Specials. So, we already know the focus of each book; what we don’t know is what takes the characters in each direction.

If this series is any indication, Scott Westerfeld is one of the most underrated writers writing today. He has an incredible sense of pacing and suspense, and he creates very real characters who grow organically, and not just as the story dictates they develop. The theme of the trilogy seems important, and I’m eager to see the direction in which he takes the story in its final volume. He keeps the reader guessing, but not so that it ever seems forced or contrived.

Read this series.