Matt, Michelle and I have a long-standing tradition of passing books around the three of us like red rubber balls during a game of four-square. It started when we were in high school, where we knew what we all liked and didn't have much money to throw around. It's continued into our adult lives, where we still know what we all like, and still don't have much money to throw around. We see each other about once a month, when I take the train up to Sacramento for hanging out and role-playing games. (Yes, I still play with my high school gaming group. No, I don't see a problem with that.)

When I went up to visit in November, I brought Jim Hines's Goblin trilogy* to loan to Matt, and my ARC of The Stepsister Scheme** to loan to Michelle. When I went up this past weekend, Michelle returned The Stepsister Scheme -- she's going to be buying her own copy once it hits the store shelves -- and Matt returned the Goblin books. I began putting things into my bag to take home. Michelle promptly inquired, of the Goblin books, "Are you going to leave those here?"

Hee.

So I left the Goblin books in Sacramento and returned to the Bay Area, where my mother picked me up from the train station and drove me home. Once there, she hung around to chat a bit, and -- as I was unpacking my bags -- caught sight of The Stepsister Scheme. Bet you can guess what happens next, can't you? Good guess. My house is totally devoid of the works of Jim Hines, and I am amused. (My house is also practically devoid of the works of Kelley Armstrong, as Michelle is borrowing everything from Industrial Magic to Living With the Dead, but those had a less entertaining chain of custody.)

(*Goblin Quest, Goblin Hero, and Goblin War, all published by DAW Books, all available now from a retailer near you. Support your local bookstore. Buy more books.)
(**Coming from DAW Books on January 6th, 2009. The day after my birthday!)

I was comfortably seated in my cotton-candy wonderland of zombie ponies, global pandemics, and not enough Diet Dr Pepper when I received a ping from my dearest darling Deborah, and the following conversation came to pass:

Deborah: "Have you seen you're on Colleen Mondor's blog?"
Me: "No. Who's Colleen Mondor?"

Enlightenment followed, as did a link to the post in question. Here go:

http://www.chasingray.com/archives/2008/12/8th_day_holiday_recs_for_all_t.html

(Oh, and in case you're also wondering who Colleen Mondor is, here's the brief blurb: "Colleen Mondor is a reviewer for Booklist, Bookslut, Eclectica Magazine and the Voices of New Orleans. I also write fiction and listen to great music." I am assured that her linking to me is awesome, because she is awesome. The world needs more awesome, so hey! Go team awesome!)

I'm not sure I've ever actually directly linked to the lyrics for 'Wicked Girls.' They're in my online songbook, but that doesn't necessarily help. So here's a hook-up:

'Wicked Girls' song lyrics.

Oh, and in case you want to do all your clicking in one place, here is the post containing the only existing recording of 'Wicked Girls.' It's a very rough recording, but it's good enough to let you hear what's going on.

I am amused.