Quite the contrary ...

Whoa.
Book #34 - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley - I loved this book. I read a rec on Goodreads for it and it captivated me on the spot. The writing is gorgeous. The main character is an 11-year-old girl who is besotted with chemistry (most notably, poisons) and who has to solve a murder before her father is taken away from her. It was lovely. She named her bike "Gladys", for goodness sake!

Some passages that caught my attention ...

I brought to mind the image of the stranger lying there in the first light of dawn: the slight growth of whiskers on his chin, strands of his red hair shifting gently on the faint stirrings of the morning breeze, the pallor, the extended legs, the quivering fingers, that last, sucking breath. And that word, blown into my face ... "Vale."

The thrill of it all!

"Yes," I said, "it was devastating."

Gladys's tires had been flat, her gears bone dry and crying out for oil, but with her own onboard tire pump and black leather tool bag behind the seat, she was entirely self-sufficient. With Dogger's help, I soon had her in tiptop running order. In the tool kit, I had found a booklet called Cycling for Women of All Ages, by Prunella Stack, the leader of the Women's League of Health and Beauty. On its cover was written with black ink, in beautiful, flowing script: Harriet de Luce, Buckshaw.

There were times when Harriet was not gone; she was everywhere.

Okay. Seriously, I could quote so much of this book. It was fun. Flavia, the delightful heroine, was a blast to read. She's devious. She makes poison in her spare time. She's smart. She's a little frightening with her single-mindedness. *g* I totally want to read more about her.

If it's unclear, I broke down and bought some books. I have more to read. Yay! In fact, I was so caught up with this book that I haven't watched anything today. Nothing. No SPN finale. Nothing. Tomorrow's soon enough.

I'm done!