Experiment Update and Some Recommendations

Hello, internet.

Do to various circumstances, my shiny new schedule seems to have been thrown of from being dutifully updated every weekday due to me flying home and visiting relatives and a certain person falling a tad bit ill (it's not me for once!  that almost never happens!).  I am still planning on completing all the posts for the week, but they'll be up later than they had been and I'll either post twice on some days or put up posts this weekend to make sure I get all five.  I do still plan to cover all three of this week's features, but they won't all be able to be on their assigned days.

That said, having a set schedule seems to be working out so far, though the daily schedule doesn't seem maintainable in the long run, both because it can't stand up to unexpected surprises like this week and because it's just difficult to take the time to write good, substantive posts on a daily basis.  Also, I'm supposed to be focusing on writing a thesis or something and I have personal writing projects I want to work on as well, so once February has passed I'll probably cut down the schedule a bit.

In other news, I've been spending a lot of time in bookstores recently.  Along with picking up the third Cobra War book (how did I not know it was out in paperback? how??), I've been reading A Devil and Her Love Song, a shojo high school drama manga that avoids turning into another generic, cliche series.  The title and cover don't really stand out to me and I would have completely overlooked it but for this glowing review on Anime News Network.  If you are interested in a high school drama with a story outside the typical "average girl attracts the interest of popular boy" and with a leading character with a very strong, distinct personality, I would recommend tracking this series down.

I've also bee reading Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori (whose mad skillz I've mentioned before) and will gladly recommend it to everyone.  It's currently available in deluxe, hardcover volumes and I would say they are worth the price.  It's set in 19th century Turkic Central Asia and if you're familiar with Mori's work, you know she's good with historical details.  You can read a plot synapses on Wikipedia, but the characters are interesting and likable, the chapters are enjoyable, and the artwork is gorgeous because it is by Mori and historical details are not the only details she's good with.  I am pretty much guaranteed to talk about this series (and Mori) in greater detail some other time and I'm typing this several hours earlier than it's being posted, so I'll go to bed now and just trust you to read this series.