Got an e-mail from Del Rey today -- they're offering free copies of the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal through May 13. You can get the audiobook, PDF, Kindle or Sony reader versions. I haven't read this, but I just might since it's free and, well, I have a sweet spot for the original Star Wars trilogy (Don't get me started on the newer trilogy...I could seriously rant for hours).

We'll see if this leads to me actually reading any of the other books in the series, though.

This weekend, The New York Times published its list of the top 100 notable books of the year. This is a great shopping list for any bibliophile in your life or for yourself (if you consume books at the rate I do, anyways). ( Here's a list of what caught my eye... )

I just realized that it has been some time since my last LJ post, so you've been forewarned that this will end up being a looooong post (use of LJ cuts employed where necessary, though). I've been crazy busy with work-- it's like all of our university's faculty have decided that they MUST get a news release written about their latest event, study, class, etc. and it has to go out ASAP. Not to mention other end-of-the-year work-related stuff (updating lists and getting our year-end clip report together) and, oh yeah, grad school!

As far as grad school goes, the first semester is almost over! Just two more weeks and then finals. I do have a paper that I've been researching for some time-- it's supposed to be a test-drive on my master's thesis and I've been reading a lot about active audiences, my topic of choice. Active audience research is pretty much focused on fandoms, which is why I find it interesting, especially the research done on fanfic writers and fanartists. ( But it's weird being a subject of study... )

Anyway, I'm insanely thankful that my first semester of grad school is nearly at an end and am happily looking forward to winter break. Speaking of being thankful, I decided to compile a little list that I'm dubbing: ( Fangirlish Things to be Thankful for This Year )

Speaking of newfound manga addiction-- I finally got my copy of Manga: The Complete Guide! It took a few weeks to get it mailed, but I did pay less than $12 for it, so who am I to complain? ( Here's what I loved (and found a little annoying)... )

In conclusion, life is good and is about to get better! Hope all my American friends had a great Thanksgiving and that everyone enjoys the upcoming holiday season and that you get everything your otaku-, nerd-, or geek-oriented heart desires!