you know what i don’t love? but i guess i wouldn’t go so far as to say i actively hate. so do you know what i mildly dislike? interviewing people. it should make you feel all important and finally definitively in the judging chair and not the being judged chair, but more often than not i just feel out of place. nothing against the people i end up having to interview either; even if they’re not perfect for the job, they’ve all been really nice, and in most cases totally qualified in a lot of ways. maybe it’s a reflection of my own insecurities as i transition from ‘guy just out of college’ to actual young professional (who may even know what he’s talking about).

you know what i also didn’t love?…

jonathan strange & mr. norrell – susanna clarke – 3 stars

one of those books that’s not bad enough to say, ‘god, i should just hurry and get this over with’, nor good enough to say, ‘god, i can’t stop reading this!’, i’ve been leisurely plodding my way through this book for over a month, and finally realized it was time to stop being so casual and put the fingers/pedal to the pages/metal. a perfect undertaking for a long weekend.

well, my final verdict has been that all in all the book was charming in its very dry, very proper, very old-time british way; but also a bit tiresome in its very slowly paced, very long-winded, very old-time british way. the book is fairly enjoyable, but would have been better had it been told in 500 instead of 800 pages. it made me wonder what it was that made someone recommend it to me those months or years ago, and as i drew to the end i never quite found it.

perhaps if you were especially fond of early 19th century england, magic, fairy beings, high society, or especially the combination thereof, you’d be delighted by a book like this. i, however, was merely distracted, and for a fair bit longer than i would have liked, making it tough to outright recommend.