It's funny that a person who writes about the ancient British isles and their druidic spirituality should have written a completely honest and convincing account of a particular character's conversion to Christianity. I found his story more gripping, more "real", than a lot of the fluff that is published nowadays (yes, I do acknowledge that that fluff is worthwhile to many readers out there).
I wonder how some Christians would feel about this--that a writer with a professed interest in pagan spirituality should write about ancient Christians with as much respect as she does for the Celtic culture in which she places those Christians (these are monks that have traveled abroad to live the Word of God).

(I'm talking about Juliet Marillier.)

This article about a librarian in Baghdad makes you appreciate your job tenfold here.

It is quite cold out there. The ladies at the library get a kick out of the fact that I'm used to this kind of weather (I hesitate to point out that being used to the cold doesn't mean taking joy in the stabbing pain in my cheeks whenever I step outside).

Jon gets a kick out of my levels of description for cold. My favorite is "cold as death"--that kind of cold that creeps into your bones and won't let go. It's usually our living room before the heaters are turned on. I want to point out that right now, the outside is not cold as death. There's a difference between just plain cold and "cold as death".