A few things

Yes, I'm still alive. So is Jacob.

The Readergirlz chat with Meg Cabot was fab. It is super fun to talk to authors, even if you haven't read their entire body of work or don't think you have any questions for them. (Like me, with aforementioned author.) I've only read The Princess Diaries. But it was still really cool to talk to Meg Cabot. I asked her what her favorite part of the writing process is (the first draft), and some other stuff and got to read her answers to other people's questions. You can read the whole thread, if you want, here. (Mostly, just look for when Meg Cabot posts, if you're in a hurry. It's long.) Anyway, this whole readergirlz thing is pretty cool, guys. I mean, they're giving away free books to the 31st poster. I was close, but no dice.

Right now I'm reading The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It is excellent. It's like, epic or something. People should read it. You, if you are a person, should read it. It is set in Nazi Germany, and Liesel Meminger (the book thief) is (luckily) not a Jew (or any of the other groups that were persecuted). But being a German in Nazi Germany wasn't all fun and games either. This is a serious book, but it is not depressing. I'll give you a full review of it when I'm done.

Also, more books have been added to the book collection, thanks to Scholastic book orders. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was 95 cents! How could I pass that up?! I couldn't. I also got Shannon Hale's Princess Academy. If you haven't read either of these books recently (or ever), pick one up.

One other thing: doesn't this magazine look cool? By cool I mean nerdy, of course. It's called Mental Floss. I'm interested.