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☆ Ursula Vernon has a new short novel out under the pen name T Kingfisher. It's called Bryony and Roses, it's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and I'm really looking forward to reading it. I haven't read The Seventh Bride yet (that one is a Bluebeard retelling), but I expect to get to it soon. To be honest, I've been saving both of them for when I go on vacation. The last one that I read was her short story anthology, Toad Words, which was awesome (If you like fairy tales, I really recommend it a lot). So, I expect both of these will make some nice cozy reading during the flights. There's something about her writing - I react to it the same way that I react to Pratchett's work. It pushes a lot of the same buttons, though of course there are a lot of differences between them. Anyway - if any of this sounds interesting, her work is on Amazon as T Kingfisher, and also on Smashwords, which is my preferred source.

☆ Qichi (my study partner) informs me that Duolingo has a Norwegian course now. This might be what will kick my butt into getting an account and trying it out. Though, we'll see. I'm not sure how effective it will be for me. I tend not to do well with programs of any kind. Literally the only things that have worked so far are reading and writing. I don't retain it if I don't use it in a practical way. But it might be a good way to learn new vocabulary... Well, I guess I won't know for sure until I get an account and give it a try.

☆ Missed the Eurovision semifinal part 2, but that's all right, since I'll be able to catch the final on Saturday. Haven't finished listening to the live versions of all of the songs from part2, but I must say, I really love Israel's entry (music video version here, it's even better). Lots of energy! But not in Hebrew this year? Surprising! Judging by the reactions I've seen, there were a lot of blah entries this go-around. Lots of ballads. It sounds that a lot of the entries are playing it safe - calculating not necessarily to win, but to get through to the final. So, not terribly surprising, but a little disappointing for me, who tends to appreciate the weird entries, like the cracktastic gnomes with trumpets and a unicycle that Moldova sent a few years ago. I'm kind of disappointed that Finland's entry didn't make it to the final this year - I'm not a fan of the band/song; needless to say, punk rock is not my genre of choice. But Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät really push the envelope, and it's always nice to have something in the final round that's really, really different in terms of genre/style/aesthetic/etc.