Read Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad today, and it was funnier than I expected. It was serious, too, but I expected that. The humor surprised me a little. I always enjoy reading myths retold from the feminine perspective, like The Mists of Avalon, so I knew I would like The Penelopiad. It's a very short book, though. It has really one idea it's focusing on -- the twelve maids Odysseus kills when he returns home -- and there's not a lot else there.

I've been going through my journal entries of the past few weeks, compiling a list of the books I've read this month. I want to start keeping track in this journal, so I'll post at the end of each month with a list, mostly just for my own reference. I've read a lot of books this month, since many of them were read in one day's time.

Right now I'm 2/3 of the way through The Vintner's Luck (by Elizabeth Knox), which I'm enjoying more than I expected. It's basically a love story between a Frenchman and an angel, so I was prepared for something overly romantic, overly lusty, or ... overly something. And instead it's pretty good, with vivid characters and complex relationships. Not a great book, by any means, but better than I expected. I've been enjoying it. I'll finish it tomorrow.