It's clearly meant to be.
So. My reading slump continues.
But then I read a post over at Tor* that contained this bit:
As the firstborn child in my family, I always wished that just once, the outcome could be different. Yes, big sisters have bad days, but might we manage to grow out of our adolescent angst, if given a chance? It’s a rare fairy-tale girl who doesn’t persecute her younger (wiser, gentler, more beautiful, etc. etc.) sister and pay a hefty price. Kate Crackernuts, Snow White/Rose Red, and the twelve dancing princesses are the few counter-examples who come to mind, and even there, the eldest dancing princess is snarky to the youngest one.
Which made me think: "Right on, sister." But also: "Man, I hope she's read Howl's Moving Castle."
And as that was the third time in three days** that Diana Wynne Jones has come up (yesterday it was everyone clamoring to remind me about Deep Secret -- which OH MY GOD, thank you and good call, I can't believe I didn't think of it! -- and she came up in conversation at work the day before), I think it might be time to revisit and get caught up on her new stuff. Which should blow the remains of my slump to smithereens, because NOTHING can withstand the awesome that is Diana Wynne Jones.
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*Who has written a YA fantasy that rehashes that fairy tale about the sisters who barf stuff when they talk. (You know the one I'm talking about -- the nice girl yaks jewels and the mean sister yaks snakes.) Anyway, I'm SO going to read that.
**Which is clearly a magical occurrence. I mean, really. Right?
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