La Mystérieuse affaire d'Echo Falls

This was a very charming book, though I don't know why I particularly liked it so much. The protagonist (Ingrid) is a schoolgirl whose hero is Sherlock Holmes and she gets caught up investigating several strange events around the town of Echo Falls. To add to the drama, her brother is using steroids and her dad's job has become precarious. It's a really nice YA mystery novel and I'd like to track down the first in the series.

Now a Husband

Had an extraordinarily fun time in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and now return an expert in all things husbandry. Everything ran perfectly smoothly, had the surreal experience of seeing my entire family groovin' it on the dance floor, and raised over $ 500 for charity. Honeymoon was pretty good, though I was sick for a couple of days with crazy chills & fever. Saw the beaches of Half-Moon Cay, downtown Panama, and the Veragua rainforest in Costa Rica. Have now washed 9 loads of laundry, with more yet to come!

Away for Wedding Bliss

Back in early December . . .

Fantasy Football Week 10

Man, I got creamed again! This time it wasn't so much my fault: I got a respectable 89 points, my second highest of the season; my opponent, however, scored 145 and had four players with 20 or more. That's the odd thing about fantasy football--you have a say in how well you do "offensively" but it's pure luck how you do "defensively."

SUNRUNNERS: 89 Points

Peyton Manning, Ind QB 25
Ricky Williams, Mia RB 10
Jonathan Stewart, Car RB 20
Mike Wallace, Pit WR 1
Chad Ochocinco, Cin WR 2
Jeremy Maclin, Phi WR 13
Fred Davis, Was TE 5
Steelers D/ST, Pit D/ST 2
David Akers, Phi K 11

SNOWMEN: 145 Points

Kurt Warner, Ari QB 21
Adrian Peterson, Min RB 22
Laurence Maroney, NE RB 8
Randy Moss, NE WR 29
Steve Smith, Car WR 15
DeSean Jackson, Phi WR 9
Kellen Winslow, TB TE 10
Ravens D/ST, Bal D/ST 24
Neil Rackers, Ari K 7

Blade: Nightstalking

This was a cool, pocket-sized comic included with the Blade: Trinity DVD. Blade himself doesn't actually appear: instead, it tells how Abigail, Whistler, and Hannibal meet up and ends as Abigail and Hannibal walk up the steps of the FBI building (where the movie begins). Nice artwork and action scenes--and a guy can't complain when it's free!

Torchwood Magazine # 8

Here's what Torchwood Magazine had to say for itself in September of 2008:

* An ad for the Torchwood Yearbook, which I was planning to ignore since it's mostly a collection of articles from the magazine--except here I learn it also has five original short stories. Now there's something else I must buy!

* An interview with exec producer Julie Gardner. Not a lot interesting here, other than that she hated the Torchwood SUV and that t.v. type people generally don't like flashbacks as they're considered complicated.

* A cool tour guide to Torchwood locations in Wales. If I ever visited Cardiff, I would totally be one of those dumb tourists standing outside Roald Dahl Plass pretending to stand on the descending pavement slab of the Hub.

* Part Five of Rift War! The crummy artwork continues. Jack and Gwen travel back in time to circa 600 C.E. (Jack can tell by tasting the carbon build-up in the dirt . . . ooookay).

* Part One of a short story by Trevor Baxendale titled Harm's Way. Basically, the team finds an alien egg-type thing and brings it back to the Hub for examination. As these things are wont to do, the egg splits apart to reveal a giant arachnid-monster sort of thing. I make it sound worse than it is, as Trevor Baxendale is actually a pretty good writer.

Underworld

Underworld is the third book in the Last of the Jedi series. Jedi Ferus Olin and his young partner Trever head back to Coruscant to track down rumors of an imprisoned Jedi. Unsurprisingly (to me at least), the Temple has been turned into a trap that almost ensnares the two. There's some exciting scenes when Inquisitor Malorum and Darth Vader appear, and a nice appearance by Dexter Jettster from Attack of the Clones (he's had to abandon his diner and go underground since he's a suspected Jedi sympathizer). Sometimes these YA novels bring me as much satisfaction as the full-length adult Star Wars books, and at a much faster pace.