traceria

That series is good, but it wouldn't make my top five (or ten, since I ran out of space in the extended list as well). Still, definitely worth the read.

Fabulous ideas. Now...go write!! Upvotes to all!

Ha ha ha ha....yes.

According to the Thursday Next book series (by Jasper Fforde), there was a shortage of u's in the fictional world (where books are built), so they dropped them from a variety of words in specific regions, just not in the UK. It's either in Lost in a Good Book or The Well of Lost Plots. I forget which. It's good to see that this thread has been helpful to so many people and that everyone's rallied together here. I hope that the coming New Year will be better for so many of you, and if not, this great place called 17th Shard will still be around if you need to do some ranting!

Don't ask me why, but I'm thinking about Discord and this whole spiking conversation. I can't see him going along with it (directly), if only because he's more into...uh...discord and chaos than something systematic and bound by rules. However, I think you may have something with King Sombra, Quiver. He is freaky, and I agree about his horn.

The worst managers or bosses are the ones that think they're doing you a favor by being a jerk, like it's for your own good. Haven't these people every heard of honey getting more flies than vinegar? On an unrelated note... To all those experiencing bad days and also those note: Happy Christmas Eve Eve!

That's a sweeping comment... The smart part might help him get out of trouble, but the rich only means you might be able to hire a lawyer with really high fees. That person still might screw up your defense. I doubt taking one other competing company out would constitute substantially lessening the competition. You might have something with "unfair methods" but I think a lot of people would want to keep things quiet by that point. The feds might not have been allowed access yet to anything making them suspicious of Stephen, Yol certainly wouldn't jump to point it out, since he took care of spreading some of the rumors, and the high-ups at the company that hired the assassin certainly wouldn't want to draw attention to their own nefarious actions. To sum up, unless the feds already smelled a rat or had access to incriminating evidence against Stephen, I don't know that anyone would be pointing it out to them lest that person, company or group of people come under investigation themselves.

When you get a Christmas update in a card and it specifically mentions your friend, who you haven't seen in a while, getting into Brandon Sanderson, and you're thrilled he's a fan, too, even though it's not due to you recommendation.* *I do have a nice group of friends that I'm in touch with more often that have gotten into Sanderson due to my intervention anyway. Wait, did I recommend Brandon Sanderson in an old email or by phone call??? I think I did! I think it was last Christmas when the friend that is the female half of this couple called me after accidentally leaving her husband's Christmas gifts at their house several states away. She was looking for book suggestions while out shopping so she'd at least have a few things to give him while at her parents' house, and I told her to get Brandon Sanderson! When you write the above and then belated realize you actually did make the recommendation to read Brandon Sanderson, only it was a year ago so was hard to recall! XD

Just for you, Delightful: Groot T-Shirts: Vincent Van Groot, Oh Grootmas Tree, Alforably Celtic, Groove vs Zombies (I have the last one).

That and everything up above are making me happy, too! It's been years since I was fully immersed in mathematics (it being my college major), but I don't use it every day now and a lot of neat things have slipped my mind...until you mentioned them. I don't know that we'll ever be able to actually discover his specific 'name' so much as speculate and hope Brandon will confirm that Pattern does operate as you're theorizing. That would tickle me infinitely.

I've always been rather envious of people who can speak more than one language, even if the others aren't fluently. I just don't have the brain for it. I'm fine with remembering rules (note: this is why being a math major worked well for me...it's a language of numbers/symbols/rules) but for the life of me cannot remember vocabulary. So, suffice it to say English is all I can claim to speak. I have a friend who is getting her masters in Italian, though, and speaks fluently.

You were not the only one! If Vorinbook.com was instead on Scadrial, the Dark Alley would definitely have something to do with that advertisement above...

Though not exactly the same, I had a friend years ago (about 12) that died of an overdose. When tragedy occurs like that, it can take a long time to process it, especially when you were so close to the person. It took me a good five years to come to terms with losing that friend. He was also one of those people who was full of life and brought others together. Know that there are others who understand your pain and confusion and anger and try to be understanding with yourself that it might take longer than you expect to heal (as much as is possible). *hugs *

Yep, got some more in the General Discussion thread (and probably elsewhere).

Since my drive to actually finish the book version of Stardust still has yet to rekindle and instead I've watched the movie at least a half dozen times, I would expect to agree with this should I ever manage to finish Stardust. *nods * Also, because I'm in the middle of "reading" (as in, listening to the audiobook) the book Contact by Carl Sagan and have also seen the movie, I've got to say that the movie seems to have really captured the heart, message, and feel of the book. Don't know if I'll feel the same way by the time I finish, but as of this moment, I'd count that as a good adaptation. Edit to add: I have to agree with Quiver on the old BBC Chronicles of Narnia. I actually didn't see them as a kid but watched them in my 20's before the new movies came out. If you can look past the dated effects, I think they're really quite good! As to Ender's Game... I think I'm somewhere in between the two of you discussing it. I didn't have high expectations for the movie, and as a result, I wasn't totally let down. I wasn't totally wowed either. It was worth the movie ticket to me, but we haven't purchased it on disc, if that helps explain my feelings. I also have to disagree about the "bad" Harry Potter movies. I liked them all, and #3 was one of my favorites...not my absolute favorite, but it was really up there.

All of you dealing with anxiety and OCD have my deepest condolences. I only have minor episodes now and then, nothing officially diagnosed (though I was on anxiety medication once for a few months due to a past stressful job, but my general practitioner gave that to me as a 'just in case' measure), and those can be annoying enough. WIth that said, I will continue with the hug trend: *SUPER HUGS TO EVERYONE * As for me, today is just one of those days where life is laughing at me. I went to get coffee from the office kitchen, and we use these pre-measured filters where the coffee is actually inside the filter. Well, the dripping mechanism was missing the coffee and going off to the side, so the first pot of coffee was looking more like tea. I was the one to discover this, so I put a new pot on. Then I go back 15 minutes later to find that all the coffee vultures in the office had already gotten to it and the entire pot...the ENTIRE pot...was gone. I had to wait for a third pot to brew before I could finally get some coffee. Then I discovered my bracelet, which was a gift from a good friend from about 15 years ago and one of my favorites, was no longer on my wrist. I'm still hoping it came off at home, because it was nowhere to be found in the parking lot, my car, stuck somewhere in my coat, or in my office. *sigh *

I hate to have to disagree, but if you're (the original poster) sensitive to that kind of content, do NOT read the Codex Alera books. Stay away from them. I don't know anything about the other recommendation by Briar King, but if that part in Warbreaker was too much for you, so many spots in the Codex Alera will be, too. Also, I second continuing to read Lord of the Rings. That is a first love for me. Anything by Patricia C. Wrede or Diana Wynne Jones would be good, but they are Young Adult fantasy authors, so you will want to consider that as well. I don't know if you're looking for something more for an adult audience or not. As a plug for those particular YA authors, I'm in my 30's and love their stuff.

Good decision to start with the Mistborn trilogy! If I'd seen this sooner, I would have just added my recommendation to the others. Enjoy!

Or Life totally got in the way. *points to self *

That is a great idea! We have an Eye of Sauron on our Christmas tree. I say "an" because the friends that made it made several to give out. It's a red christmas ball with the eye painted on and a crochet santa hat. We put it at the top of the tree every year.

Do we have to get Fluttershy to give you The Eye?

It's okay, I'm still ahead by a few years from what I can tell. I was in my last year of college when the first LotR film came out and was only off by a couple months for the DVD release, which would have allowed me to use it for a project in a seminar class. *snap * I feel the same way about the Hobbit movies... I will go see the last one because of my dedication but sincerely hope they end it well. [Edit to fix spelling.]

That's what I heard, too. It was probably in one of the extra features on the extended addition DVDs, which my roommate and I would put on as background for crafty weekends. Wow, that was about ten years ago now. Crazy! I find Vivenna annoying in the beginning, but it quickly turns into that 'I can see some of myself in her and also love her' sense. She's very real, and she comes such a long way by the end of the book that you find you can really appreciate her and her development all the more.

I'm going to be odd here (no fantasy or even sci-fi) and say I'm reading an old school mystery by Rex Stout. The specific novel in question is Too Many Cooks and is part of the Nero Wolfe (the detective) series. I'm a lover of classic whodunits, and this definitely qualifies. So entertaining! (I default to whodunit mysteries when life is too busy and I need something that is easy yet entertaining reading.)

I've never read Sword of Truth, so it's definitely Denna from the Kingkiller Chronicles. *nods * She reminds me so much of this mean girl I knew in college. I agree completely about Eowyn and particularly her scene with the Witch King. She's one of my all-time favorites, too. I even put together a makeshift costume for Halloween one year based on her non-fancy dress in the movies.