There are the occasional days when I think I have the best job in the world. And today, my belly full from free Fox and Obel meeting leftovers, is one of them.

I'm getting paid to thumb through our library's entire collection of books about whiskey. Yes, me, wrybrarian, reading through reference books...for money!

Hahahahaha. What a bunch of suckers -- I do this sort of thing on weekends for fun. And for free.

And I'm learning so much. For example, did you know that 33 percent of Ireland's liquid milk production goes directly to Bailey's Irish Cream? Thanks for the memories, The Classic Whiskey Handbook.

If Tamora Pierce had been around when I was a kid, I would have been the happiest girl in the world. Considering my early propensity for wandering through supermarkets neighing like a horse, on the other hand, it was probably good that I wasn't introduced to the idea of actually falling in love with a shape-shifting animal until adulthood. Anyhow, I've been secretly reading Pierce's series for about a year, but I finally got my hands on the Trickster series, and it blew me away.

I finished Trickster's Choice on Wednesday, then dragged myself, despite stomach flu, to the library Friday to pick up Trickster's Queen.

Pierce simply can't be beat for tight plotlines, strong heroines and engrossing entertainment. Most of her work is for a younger audience -- think 12 - 14 -- but the Trickster series is about a 16-year-old, and it's complex and mature enough to really capture my 32-year-old imagination.

It seems I can only bring myself to review books when I have something else to do. Um, like reviewing books for somebody else. Heh.

I've been reading at a snail's pace this season, down to about one book a week. The culprit? Cable television, of course. You see, after about 5 years of freelancing, I started working fulltime. And i rewarded myself with cable.

But I'm still reading, of course. Just finished include:

1) Jane Eyre - far better than I remembered from high school. Dark, suspenseful and terribly romantic.

2) The Eyre Affair - this month's bookclub pick, thanks to yours truly. It's a fun mystery, along the lines of a Sparkle Hayter but set in a 1980s Literary England. A little heavy on the puns, but a pleasant read all around.

3) Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay's twist on the serial killer genre. But this serial killer only murders bad guys. A light and easy read, except for the nasty scenes.