Oh man - no Lost tonight and I missed the finale last week as I was on a plane while it was on. Steve taped it but the tape went "funky" at the very end. He said that was almost worse than not seeing it at all. I asked him to bring the tape with him anyway in case we have a VCR in our hotel room in Key West. We get a free massage with our room - boy am I looking forward to that! I love Key West - hope we have time to go through the Hemingway House again. One of the museums there has a lion drawn by Hemingway - his first book? A picture book? :-) Guess I will have to watch Bones tonight instead. I like it because it is a bit like NCSI. Mark Harmon is a lot better looking as an "old guy" than he was on St. Elsewhere, which Steve and I love to watch in reruns. I watched Jericho for a couple of weeks but it isn't holding my interest.

It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day - the leaves haven't all fallen yet. Oranges, reds, yellows, etc. I love this time of the year - cool enough to wear a sweater, but no need for a jacket yet. The forecast says it will get into the 30s at night this weekend. Maybe it will wait until I am gone on Saturday and will warm up again before I get back home.

We picked names for Secret Santa today at our faculty meeting. The cool part of this is that we are going to pick a book that we think our chosen colleague might have picked to give to the homeless shelter in Greenville. After we open the book from our secret Santa at our Christmas luncheon they will be donated to the homeless shelter. The ECU ALA Student Chapter is doing something similar. We have students all over NC and a few out of state, who will also donate books to their local homeless shelters. I love the idea of giving books to children and teens who are spending the Holidays in less than comfortable surroundings.

Who ever my secret Santa is might choose a YA fantasy novel to donate, like The Hunter's Moon by O.R. Melling. This is 2005 Amulet title that I had "misplaced" in the apartment in the islands. What a cool book! Set in Ireland, two cousins - one Irish and one American - set out on a road trip to find out if their belief in faeries just might be real. They find out just how real it is when Findabhair is kidnapped by the King of the Faeries and Gwen has to find her inner strength to bring her cousin back. Once into Faerie, Gwen realizes that maybe Findabhair doesn't want to leave - she has fallen in love with the King. Is she to be the human sacrifice that is required under the Hunter's Moon? Or, will the King fall in love with his human captive and not be willing to sacrifice her? Perhaps Gwen in her place? Such a delicious fantasy tale with a unsure of herself teenage female protagonist who discovers just how strong she really is. Now I want to find and read the second book in The Chronicles of Faerie, The Summer King. It introduces a new character and is again set in Ireland and includes Faeries, of course. :-) Offer these books to the girls who love Holly Black's Tithe.

All for today.