Six-month anniversary
March 2, 2002 (9:03 AM) ( link )

This site has now been around for a remarkable six months. See my statistics page for more information. In the last month (February), I've read 2 novels and 1 graphic novel, thereby contributing 3 additional reviews to this site for a total of 67 reviews. Not a very heavy month—especially coming after two months where I read 21 (!) novels. And this month, what with thesis and all, will likely be even less productive (unless I read a lot during spring break).

In other site statistic news, my Book Reviews page saw 94 visitors in February, for a total of 140. Not a lot, especially given that almost 500 people have stopped by the main page. But now my site is listed in Google's open directory, and the Book Reviews page shows up first on the list when you search for "Steven Wu" on Google. This should hopefully lead to some more visits.

In reading news: I've begun reading Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy. It's serving as my bed-time reading, which means that I often forget exactly where I am the next day (since I tend to drop off in the middle of those readings—not the fault of the book). Not much has happened yet in the book, although Seth really is quite good at writing about music. Also, after only an hour of reading, I'm about a quarter of the way through Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth. Juster must have been on drugs when he wrote this book: it's just so weird. It also has some terrible puns ("it goes without saying"?). I think, though, that a combination of nostalgia and the recognition that this is a children's book will make me cut this book a lot of slack. In terms of inventive zaniness, it's really something.

Next up on the reviews: several graphic novels, as I've been promising. Definitely Fire by Brian Michael Bendis, and The Man Who Grew Young (as perplexing as it is) by Daniel Quinn.