Recent Read: "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull

I avoided reading this book for a long time. First of all, the title, cover art, and the fact that it's a long series just screamed "Super Nerdy Fantasy Book" at me. Second, I wasn't crazy about The Candy Shop Wars. I had to read it and like it because it is about my home town, but the dialogue drove me crazy and the whole story seemed annoyingly far-fetched. But my youngest brother gave me Fablehaven for Christmas, and I just couldn't let him down.

I cracked it open on a lonely night when I couldn't sleep, and the very first page roped me right in. I didn't know that it was set in the present, and the whole idea of the Fablehaven preserve was so unique and creative to me. I was all set to launch into the entire series until the grandma entered the story and the dialogue got unbearable. Grandparents don't talk in informative paragraphs like that--am I right? The ending was fine, but kind of flash/bang/boom really fast.

Overall, I loved the beginning. I loved the mysterious/kids-figuring-out-clues feel. I'm not ready to continue in the series quite yet, but I could see myself getting there eventually. Just how and why the grandma turned into a chicken in the first place had better come up and be important in later books or I'm going to be mad that he just brushed that off.

Books I've Quit

In my youth, I tried to make it a goal to finish reading every book that I started (excepting anything that was dirty or inappropriate). I think that was a good goal at the time, but I've decided that now I'm grown up enough to throw it out the window. There are too many books in the world and too little time in my life for reading to waste much on a book that I don't like or that is a drag to read. Here are a few books that I quit recently, may they rest in peace:

The Once and Future King by T.H. White
I really liked The Sword in the Stone. The Queen of Air and Darkness was weird, uncomfortable, funny in parts, and absolutely creepy at the end, but I toughed it out. The Ill-Made Knight was so depressing that I quit a little over half way. It was making me cranky and unhappy, so I said no. It's not White's fault that the legend is a catastrophe, after all, but I just couldn't handle it.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I tried to read this to participate in a woman's book club, but I just couldn't go through with it. I dragged myself through the beginning and all the divorce rants, but in Italy I just couldn't stand the woman's worldly mind anymore and had to get her out of my head, as much as I love Julia Roberts movies and all. I just felt like Gilbert's values and driving force in life was too different from mine for me to enjoy the book.

The Constellation of Sylvie, by Roderick Townley
Okay, maybe I should have quit a bit sooner. Into the Labyrinth was pretty ridiculous and repetitive. I loved having more of Sylvie's beautiful world, but the story didn't really hook me. So when The Great Good Thing was carried onto a space ship by a the President's daughter, things got a little out of hand. I shelved it for a while, and then it was due at the library, so I just took it back. Maybe I'll finish The Constellation of Sylvie someday, when I'm really bored. We'll see. Overall though, I would just recommend The Great Good Thing. But that's a high recommendation! It is one of my favorites, and I really liked The Blue Shoe too.
  
Of Human Bondage, by W. Somerset Maugham
I know this is a classic, but I just can't go through with it right now. First Philip's life is tragic and depressing, and then he turns into a punk. I didn't like anyone in the book, so I decided to give it up for now. Maybe I'll persevere someday.  

Candy Freak, by Steve Almond
The title and cover art got me to open this book, which I wish I had never done. Almond has a dirty mouth and is very vulgar. I guess I was only interested in it because I have a very strong sweet tooth myself, but I quit in the first chapter. I'm pretty sure it's just a crowd pleaser book anyway.

The Book Thief, by Marcus Zuzak
I know everyone says this book is amazing, but the beginning was so creepy that I shut it up right away. Seriously, death talking to you? Maybe I need a little more backbone, but it really creeped me out!  

Recent Read: "The Sword in the Stone" by T.H. White

T.H. is not to be confused with E.B., which is a mistake I think I made for a long time. The beginning of this book was a little hard to get through, before I realized that it was all a joke. But once Merlyn shows up, it is a blast. It makes me sing the Disney "Sword in the Stone" songs, but the characters are even more fun on paper. I was very impressed by White's imaginary, descriptive, masterful, and fun writing style. This would be a good stepping stone to Tolkien for children who like mythology, fantasy, and long books

Recent Read: The Blue Shoe by Roderick Townley

I love The Great Good Thing, Townley's first book. The Blue Shoe was written more recently, and I can tell that over time Townley's writing has become even more captivating. This book is pretty much pure fun. And it's written in blue ink--cool, eh? The ending is a little fantastic, but it was definitely a fun read.

Harry Potter VII: Round 2

This was my second time reading the final Harry Potter book, and I enjoyed it and appreciated it so much more. The first time I read it (the first few days it was released), it felt like they were camping in the forest for forever and that a lot of what happened in the book were random adventures to fill space. I now realize that I only felt that way because I was trying to read it as fast as I could so I could find out what happened at the end, and that was the reason I found the book frustrating the first time.

I have to take this opportunity to give a shout-out. Somewhere in the world is a person who put a "Believe Snape" bumper sticker on their car BEFORE the seventh book came out. As they drove past me one day in downtown Seattle, I started yelling inside about how I HATED Snape (after reading the sixth book) and how could they have that bumper sticker? Well, I was wrong, and I wish I could find that bumper sticker for myself!

What Rowling does with Snape in this book (and thus in all the others--which is cool) is AMAZING. My only question is why doesn't he have a portrait in the headmaster's office at the end? Dumbledore's appeared like immediately after he died. I missed Snape in that last scene.

P.S. Wondering why I have no comments about the Harry Potter movies? I liked the first two a lot, but after #4 I gave up watching them. The end.

Recent Read: Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddox

Okay, I will admit that fairytale spin-offs are one of my little quirky reading pleasures, but I really like this one. The whole idea is what would happen if Cinderella really didn't want to marry the prince after all? I think rewritten fairy tales are so much fun!

I love how Haddox just picks a good stopping point and ends the book. We know they're going to live happily ever after--why drag it out? It's really fun how she starts and ends this novel in the middle of things, which keeps a retelling very lively.

Children of Hurin, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Oh, Tolkien. We almost have the same initials, but sometimes I just don't understand you. My husband and I loved reading The Lord of the Rings aloud it took a really long time (months actually), but reading aloud made me appreciate Tolkien's descriptions, imagery, and length a lot more.

I was excited to read this book just to get more Tolkien, but I wish it didn't sound like the chronicles of history in the Bible! I love the Bible, but long history just wasn't what I was looking for in a novel. We stuck it out to the end though. After the lengthy background, the pace picked up a bit, but the book never lost the history feel.

I can't help but thinking that Tolkien spent over twelve years writing and revising The Lord of the Rings for a reason. I wonder if this book, compiled by Christopher Tolkien, is missing Tolkien's arduous revision process?

The good news was that Children of Hurin was super short compared to The Lord of the Rings. I was never very engaged with the characters as Turin is just grumpy the whole time, but he did pull out a pretty cool plot twist, even if it was kind of weird.

Overall, the thing about Tolkien is at least one every chapter he says something really amazing about human nature. Those are the gems that keep me reading on for more!