(Continued from Part 1)
North! Or Be Eaten - Andrew Peterson (2009)
"It is only when we have grown too old that we fail to see that the Maker’s world is swollen with magic - it hides in plain sight in music and water and even bumblebees."
I had read the first of the Wingfeather Saga (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness) last month and was less than impressed - in fact, I was almost ready to write off the series entirely. However, North! Or Be Eaten changed my mind. Though it's still very much a children's fantasy book, it's darker in tone than the first book, more action-heavy and engaging, explores more character development, and is overall better written. Plus, many of the things that had annoyed me about the first book were absent or toned down in this book. If you weren't excited about the first book in the Wingfeather series, try this one out. I'm planning on finishing the series.
Related Reads
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Snicket)
Time Out for Happiness - Frank Gilbreth Jr (1970)
"'You can't run by me like that, ma'am, You know ladies aren't admitted.'
'I didn't know, Lillie stammered. Then she added, 'What shall I do? I'm the speaker.'
'At the University Club? he chortled. 'If you are, lady, I'm Fanny Brice. This club is for men only.'
And then he put her back out in the rain, where, New York fashion, there weren't any cabs."
Most people are probably aware, at least in name, of the book Cheaper by the Dozen.Written more like a biography, this book is something of a companion book to that classic, and the author (Frank Jr, the eldest boy of the family) takes on a more familiar tone as he relates some pieces of family history and delves into more background and details of the events related in Cheaper by the Dozen and its followup Belles on Their Toes. Most pointedly for me, the history related here really drove home how difficult it was at the turn of the 19th century for women to break into the "men's world" of STEM-related fields.
This book will make more sense if you've already read the author's original novels (co-written with one of his sisters), but would probably still be an interesting read to those intrigued by American history and the inception of time-motion study.
Related Reads
Cheaper by the Dozen (Gilbreth)
Bells on their Toes (Gilbreth)
Papa Married a Mormon (Fitzgerald)
How to Be a Heroine - Samantha Ellis (2014)
"For a moment I have the alarming thought that maybe I want heroines so I can be their best friend and loyal sidekick without ever facing the challenge of becoming a heroine myself."
This book is part-autobiography, part-English paper. Ellis writes about how her book heroines - from childhood to present day - have shaped her, and goes back to some of her childhood heroines and studies them with a more critical eye. I related to, although didn't necessarily agree with, the author's strong relation to childhood book characters (I'm quite opposite in that I found a kinship with Jane Eyre, while Ellis always strongly related to Cathy Earnshaw). Though I didn't know all the books or authors mentioned, I was still able to follow along, and the book made me think more deeply about how book characters have really influenced me throughout my own life.
Related Reads
Cut Me Loose (Vincent)
The Shelf (Rose)
Reading Lolita in Tehran (Nafisi)
Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov [ed. by Robert Chandler] (2013)
"Deep, deep in the forest, between blue forget-me-nots, I'll catch you on my hook, hook you on my line. And soon, stranger, soon, you'll be dancing to my pipe, dancing to my tune."
This compilation includes a rather staggering amount of Russian fairy tales from a wide variety of authors/collectors of oral folktales. The book is divided into different sections, each of which includes detailed backgrounds of the featured authors. This setup, along with the book's inclusion of a strong introduction and helpful footnotes, makes this anthology a must if you're interested in fairy and folk tales and/or Russian Literature of any genre. I found myself recognizing many of the stories from other fairy tale compilations I've read from different parts of the world. The nature of folktales makes some sections of the book feel repetitious, but that's to be expected.
Related Reads
The Juniper Tree: And Other Tales from Grimm
We Never Talk About My Brother [Short Stories] - Peter S. Beagle (2009)
"But it is a curious thing, how certain horrors are so vastly horrible to think about that they simply do not take hold on your imagination at the time, but go almost unnoticed - sooner or later to wake you screaming, surely, but not now."
Given my previous reads by Peter S. Beagle (most notably The Last Unicorn), I was expecting this to be a more fantasy-heavy compilation, but the stories included here are quite mixed and show a wide range of types and genres. I liked all of the stories and really enjoyed a number of them. This is a very worthwhile collection for Peter S. Beagle fans and newcomers alike.
Related Reads:
The Line Between [Short Stories] (Beagle)
Lila - Marilynne Robinson (2014)
"She liked to hear people tell stories. The saddest ones were the best. She wondered if that meant anything at all."
This is the third and final novel of the Gilead trilogy. I found it not quite as good as the preceding novels, but still worth a read. Robinson has a talent for making her characters achingly relatable and strangely understandable.
Related Reads
Gilead (Robinson)
The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck)
North! Or Be Eaten - Andrew Peterson (2009)
"It is only when we have grown too old that we fail to see that the Maker’s world is swollen with magic - it hides in plain sight in music and water and even bumblebees."
I had read the first of the Wingfeather Saga (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness) last month and was less than impressed - in fact, I was almost ready to write off the series entirely. However, North! Or Be Eaten changed my mind. Though it's still very much a children's fantasy book, it's darker in tone than the first book, more action-heavy and engaging, explores more character development, and is overall better written. Plus, many of the things that had annoyed me about the first book were absent or toned down in this book. If you weren't excited about the first book in the Wingfeather series, try this one out. I'm planning on finishing the series.
Related Reads
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Snicket)
Time Out for Happiness - Frank Gilbreth Jr (1970)
"'You can't run by me like that, ma'am, You know ladies aren't admitted.'
'I didn't know, Lillie stammered. Then she added, 'What shall I do? I'm the speaker.'
'At the University Club? he chortled. 'If you are, lady, I'm Fanny Brice. This club is for men only.'
And then he put her back out in the rain, where, New York fashion, there weren't any cabs."
Most people are probably aware, at least in name, of the book Cheaper by the Dozen.Written more like a biography, this book is something of a companion book to that classic, and the author (Frank Jr, the eldest boy of the family) takes on a more familiar tone as he relates some pieces of family history and delves into more background and details of the events related in Cheaper by the Dozen and its followup Belles on Their Toes. Most pointedly for me, the history related here really drove home how difficult it was at the turn of the 19th century for women to break into the "men's world" of STEM-related fields.
This book will make more sense if you've already read the author's original novels (co-written with one of his sisters), but would probably still be an interesting read to those intrigued by American history and the inception of time-motion study.
Related Reads
Cheaper by the Dozen (Gilbreth)
Bells on their Toes (Gilbreth)
Papa Married a Mormon (Fitzgerald)
How to Be a Heroine - Samantha Ellis (2014)
"For a moment I have the alarming thought that maybe I want heroines so I can be their best friend and loyal sidekick without ever facing the challenge of becoming a heroine myself."
This book is part-autobiography, part-English paper. Ellis writes about how her book heroines - from childhood to present day - have shaped her, and goes back to some of her childhood heroines and studies them with a more critical eye. I related to, although didn't necessarily agree with, the author's strong relation to childhood book characters (I'm quite opposite in that I found a kinship with Jane Eyre, while Ellis always strongly related to Cathy Earnshaw). Though I didn't know all the books or authors mentioned, I was still able to follow along, and the book made me think more deeply about how book characters have really influenced me throughout my own life.
Related Reads
Cut Me Loose (Vincent)
The Shelf (Rose)
Reading Lolita in Tehran (Nafisi)
Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov [ed. by Robert Chandler] (2013)
"Deep, deep in the forest, between blue forget-me-nots, I'll catch you on my hook, hook you on my line. And soon, stranger, soon, you'll be dancing to my pipe, dancing to my tune."
This compilation includes a rather staggering amount of Russian fairy tales from a wide variety of authors/collectors of oral folktales. The book is divided into different sections, each of which includes detailed backgrounds of the featured authors. This setup, along with the book's inclusion of a strong introduction and helpful footnotes, makes this anthology a must if you're interested in fairy and folk tales and/or Russian Literature of any genre. I found myself recognizing many of the stories from other fairy tale compilations I've read from different parts of the world. The nature of folktales makes some sections of the book feel repetitious, but that's to be expected.
Related Reads
The Juniper Tree: And Other Tales from Grimm
We Never Talk About My Brother [Short Stories] - Peter S. Beagle (2009)
"But it is a curious thing, how certain horrors are so vastly horrible to think about that they simply do not take hold on your imagination at the time, but go almost unnoticed - sooner or later to wake you screaming, surely, but not now."
Given my previous reads by Peter S. Beagle (most notably The Last Unicorn), I was expecting this to be a more fantasy-heavy compilation, but the stories included here are quite mixed and show a wide range of types and genres. I liked all of the stories and really enjoyed a number of them. This is a very worthwhile collection for Peter S. Beagle fans and newcomers alike.
Related Reads:
The Line Between [Short Stories] (Beagle)
Lila - Marilynne Robinson (2014)
"She liked to hear people tell stories. The saddest ones were the best. She wondered if that meant anything at all."
This is the third and final novel of the Gilead trilogy. I found it not quite as good as the preceding novels, but still worth a read. Robinson has a talent for making her characters achingly relatable and strangely understandable.
Related Reads
Gilead (Robinson)
The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck)
