then there are blackbirds

Hi all! A friend is selling some Indian jewelry to fund her trip to the US and is trying to post things by this Friday. If you're interested, you can check it out at ChunInda. :)

Books I've read this week:
+ Toshokan Sensou/Library Wars, v. 1,3,4: So obviously I love the anime series, but there's definitely some more character/relationship development time in the manga adaptation. Must track down the rest of the volumes!
+ Alif the Unseen, by G. Willow Wilson: I picked this up after seeing yasaman's mention of it. Having finished it yesterday, I'm still a bit too overwhelmed to be coherent about it, but it definitely did not disappoint!

And now I'm off to the library to return Painted Skin II (sob) and hunt down some more books!

So thanks to being post-weekend shenanigans (and late to work this morning due to surprise!snow), I have rewatched all of Toshokan Sensou/Library Wars [wiki; 'ware spoilers]! I'D FORGOTTEN HOW MUCH I LOOOOOOVE IT, YOU GUYS. 12 delicious eps of libraries! Battling for freedom of information! and against government interference/censorship! If the Freedom of Library Law doesn't put hearts in your eyes, I don't know what will:

It is the most important responsibility of libraries to offer collected materials and library facilities to the people who have the Right to Know as one of their fundamental human rights. In order to fulfill their mission, libraries shall recognize the following matters as their proper duties, and shall put them into practice.

• Libraries have freedom in collecting their materials.
  
• Libraries secure the freedom of offering their materials.
  
• Libraries guarantee the privacy of users.
  
• Libraries oppose any type of censorship categorically.

When the freedom of libraries is imperiled, we librarians will work together and devote ourselves to secure the freedom.

(... okay, that is perhaps a slightly clunky translation, but still. *____*) Anyway, the Library Corps was mobilized by the libraries in order to defend the public's freedom of knowledge, and their opponents are the Media Betterment Corporation, whose objective is to limit access to and/or destroy media deemed inappropriate in order to achieve a "better society." With all that premise, the adorable hilarious het romance is TOTALLY JUST A BONUS.

Kasahara Iku is the main character: tall, opinionated, unabashedly emotional, and (predictably enough) MY FAVORITE. She's far from the brightest member of the Library Corps, but she has the biggest heart by far. Also, uh, it's possible that I over-identify with her quick-to-peevishness. xD Her greatest advantages in the Corps are her athleticism (she's demonstrably the best runner and the strongest fighter of all the trainees); her roommate, Shibasaki Asako, a member of the Corps' Intelligence Division; and her boss, Doujou Atsushi.

( some more notes; minor spoilers )

In conclusion: the amount of win overwhelms the minor irks I have with this show. Also, it's a short series! 12 20ish-minute eps is NOTHING, okay, this is why I blew through the entire thing on a break from Shikabane Hime. :D