long and useless

Have I snagged your attention?

I've heard a lot of things (both good and bad, though mostly good), about the hand-blend scents that they make. I'd like to make an order to give to my sister when I see her during the winter holidays but I'm not sure at all how to go about figuring out the scents. Is there some sort of general pick-and-choose scheme or should I buy her one from each category and have her select the best one? I was wandering through the website and I'm little embarassed to say I got lost pretty quickly. =)

Tell me what your favourite books are and why? I'd love to know and it'd be a great way to find more books to read.

On a slightly separate note; flamika - can you tell me what your fave Poppy Z. Brite book is?

Also, I'm looking for a specific book. It was a Japanese novel translated into English and it's about a group of working class women in Japan who are stuck in a dreary rut and decide to do something to get out of it. A little sinister, I believe. Was it by... Noriko? I can't remember the title or the author but I remember seeing it in the bookstore before I left.

Edit:

Never mind! It's "Out" by Natsuo Kirino. And I found it myself! (for once)

I haven't partied this hard since... well, since never. I have a tendency of liking quiet nights at home, but ever since coming to Japan, I've been out and about way more than ever. It might be because everything still feels temporary and I'm still adjusting to the fact that yes, I will have a whole year here where I can explore Japan, get a feel of a whole new world, and become One with my desk. =P

I have requests again.

It turns out that I have plenty of free time too. Enough so that I've been getting back to my oldest hobby: reading. During college, it was hard to find free time (or any time) to read besides the shitload of stuff we read for classes (which, while very good on its own, is not something I personally relax too. Maybe some of you do. And more power to you). Here, I have a few hours where I can just sprawl on my loveseat and absorb material I'd been meaning to read but never got around to. It's quite gratifying.

So.

So far I either have with me in Japan or is on its merry way in one of the four boxes coming:

Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell
The Historian
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Kafka on the Shore
Good Omens, random Discworld books
A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius
Kushiel Trilogy
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Catch-22
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Handmaid's Tale
Lolita
Fight Club
Wicked
Harry Potter (eventually all six)
Sandman Vol 1 (still haven't read this, but ellen_fredemon suggested it a long time ago (Nimbus) and I've finally gotten around to getting it)
Anita Blake (the first one)

Yeah, it's a pretty random selection of books, but I would love more books to put on my booshelves. For one... these are finally MY bookshelves! My home! My little hole in the world! It's an unbelievable feeling and I want to make it a cozy little place with books and love and food and... anime and manga and just so much stuff. =)

Um, yeah.

Also, cedarlibrarian - is there any website you'd recommend to browse through on a regular basis to find books? My way and tendency is to wander around the bookstore and library looking at random covers, but that's a little difficult to do in Japan.

Still need to send out a torrent of things.

Oh please, will someone give me raw scans of Bleach 178-180? I can't find scanlations and at this point, all I want to do is stare at the pictures! *weeps*

scanlations would be even better so I could understand