Finally finished reading the Faction Paradox novel Of the City of the Saved... this morning. It took forever, but not because I didn't want to read it. No, it's the sort of book that demands focus and concentration, and those have been in short supply in recent months. So I would read it in concentrated chunks spread out over too long a period of time. Fortunately, I managed to remember most of what I had read, and in the end, found it pretty satisfying. I always feel like I have trouble with these sorts of complicated world-building science-fiction novels, but I found this one to be pretty accessible. Maybe it's just that it was rooted in a mythology I already understood, being part of the Faction Paradox series. (Of course, Kevin Anderson's Saga of Seven Suns series is also the sort of epic sci-fi series I would have thought I'd hate, but I'm completely captivated by that as well. So perhaps it's not the big, imaginary-world, multi-book epic nature of these things that's been putting me off; maybe I just really don't like Lord of the Rings.)

My other reading goal this weekend is to finish Sign of the Qin by LA Bass. It's a Chinese fantasy story, very Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but with more demons. It also features a virtual army of characters, and is the first book of a trilogy. (So, yeah, it probably is Tolkien, and not the genre. Sorry.) After that, I have a couple of shorter YA books I want to get through, and I'll probably stick with the shorter things until after the NLA conference.

Oh, did I mention I'm doing a presentation on graphic novels at the NLA preconference for school libraries? Yeah, so that'll take up some of my time between now and then. As will a trip to Utah to support my dad at a botanical conference where his students are giving a symposium to honor him. Obviously, I'm happy to be with my family, but it's a botanical conference, I'm not a botanist, it's in Utah, and it's a week before my first professional presentation at a major conference. I can see the possibility for my attention being divided.

Almost certainly going to see The Bourne Supremacy today...