I’m not much for praying, but the Prayer of St. Francis really speaks to me. I find it so beautiful and moving, and I love this version of it.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Holly Black has a new book, Ironside: A Modern Faery’s Tale, due out on May 8. Keep an eye out for it!

I was at a party Saturday night, and over the course of the evening, a true hatred for Carrot Top emerged. I think it began when someone asked everyone to name the best celebrity that they’ve ever met, and I said that my husband’s answer was Carrot Top, whom he once glimpsed at a regional airport in Florida (his real answer was Mark Lenard, who played Sarek on Star Trek). This actually led to some people wishing for the death of Carrot Top. Lest you be worried for the little guy, he of the crazy fro and innocuous-yet-annoying jokes, just look at this picture. I got it from the Fug Girls, who have a great little story to go with it in their December 2006 archives. But seriously, just look at this guy. Eeek.

I kinda want him dead, too.

My new MacBook should arrive this week, which means I can post more easily and frequently. Yay!

For Christmas, my grandmother mailed me Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. I had heard of the book, mostly because it’s my job to know about books, and I had read a review of it in People, but I didn’t really know anything about it. So I sat down to read it with no expectations or preconceived notions, and honestly, it kind of blew me away.

The story revolves around Margaret, a bookshop keeper and amateur biographer. One day, completely out of the blue, she is contacted by Vida Winter, England’s most famous novelist (and liar!), who asks Margaret to come to her estate and write her biography. Margaret agrees, and in preparation, reads all of Vida’s works, something she had never bothered to do. She finds herself enthralled, particularly by Vida’s first book, a collection entitled Thirteen Tales, which contains only twelve. Upon arriving at Vida’s estate, she finds the author beautiful, smart, and prickly. Nevertheless, she takes the job, and soon finds herself consumed.

Vida’s story is that of a most dysfunctional family, including the disturbed siblings Isabelle and Charlie, and the strange and viscious twins Adeline and Emmeline. The story is also full of minor players: servants, a governess, a missing baby, and perhaps even a ghost. But Vida is known for telling outrageous lies, and it is up to Margaret to suss out the truth…and only then will she really learn the thirteenth tale.

This was definitely one of my favorite books of 2006. Typically when I read mystery or suspense, I find myself figuring it out halfway through. But with this book, I forced myself not to try to figure it out; I wanted to be swept along with the story at its own pace. I loved all the twists and turns, and now that I know how it ends, I want to reread it and look for all the hidden clues. A spectacular book!