Tanglewreck by Jeannette Winterson

Silver is kept locked up in her house, Tanglewood, by her cruel guardian Mrs. Rokebye. Her parents and sister have disappeared, she doesn't get enough to eat, and she is always watched by Mrs. Rokebye's rabbit, Bigamist. The only thing that keeps her going is the house, Tanglewreck, which sometimes talks to her.
Suddenly the world goes wrong. Time isn't what it used to be- or perhaps it will not be what it is, or it isn't what it will be. People are disappearing, flung across time and space, and the only thing that can set things right is the Timekeeper, which Silver is supposed to have. Only two other unscrupulous persons want it very badly, and they are prepared to do anything to get it, sending Silver into a wild journey to save Time... and the world itself.

Good. Time is a confusing thing to write, and writing it suddenly opens the story up to countless possibilities. I read of Queen Elizabeth, the Prime Minister, Jamaica, black holes, wormholes, both Vaticans, and London, all of which happened in the space of a few days. Winterson managed it very well; I was completely caught up in the story.

Merry Christmas!! Yay for presents from Barnes and Noble!

Shakespeare by Bill Bryson

William Shakespeare, author of a considerable portion of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, is largely an enigma. He was born to John Shakespeare, married, had a few children, wrote lots of plays, and died. Follow Bill Bryson as he tries to sort fact from fiction, truth from legend, and uncover the Bard of Avon.

Interesting. It seems odd that we have most of Shakespeare's work yet next to nothing on him. We have Macbeth and Twelfth Night and the sonnets, but we don't even know what the man looked like. If he was such a favorite of the Crown why did he never have a portrait done? Consequently, hundreds of people have dedicated their lives to attempt to uncover such mundane things as where he spent half of his life, where he learned a lot of his background information, what happened to some of his plays, what order the plays were written, and if they were even written by Shakespeare. As Bryson says, the lack of information is what makes his book so small.

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke (sequel to Inkheart and Inkspell)

Angered by the book Mo has bound for the Adderhead that has made the Adderhead immortal, Death gives Mo a bargain: if he destroys the book and kills the Adderhead before spring, he will be allowed to live and his friend Dustfinger will return. If he fails, he, his daughter Meggie, and Dustfinger will all die. It seems easy to slip into the Adderhead's chambers and destroy him and the book, but Mo is the famed robber Bluejay, with a price on his head. The Adderhead will do anything to kill him, his family, and all whom he holds dear. Can he and Meggie read the right words, as they did before in Inkheart and Inkspell, and end the fear and threat?

Good. It was like the fifth and sixth Harry Potters, though: a good read, one I would read again and recommend, but mostly tying up loose ends- and creating more- that were left by the first two books. Sure Meggie's choice between Farid and Doria is interesting, but is it important? Sure the Magpie's revenge is scary, but is it necessary? If Funke doesn't set a limit and an overarching problem for the books, it will become a large, rather boring series.
Not to mention the whole Death thing. Interesting- is it possible to cheat Death? Can people die twice and still be alive?- but perhaps it's something best left alone. Nobody knows what it's like- too bad Lazarus didn't write things down- and it would be awfully easy to convey the wrong idea.

---
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is in the twentieth hour of its third day, with 5649 words!

Library Book-es

Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen
Abused by several foster families, Holly decides to run away. Her journal tells of jumping trains, sleeping in boxes, and eating trash, and she pours out her anger as poems. She trusts no one, not even the kindly woman who hands out food or the girl who tries to help. But Holly is lonely, and people offer her their home. Can she forget her anger and learn to trust them?

I can't imagine having to find my food and clothes and shelter. I've never experienced anything like that, and at the very least I would become bitter and disillusioned. My family is supposed to help me, but they're gone. The state handed me to other families who were supposed to help by they starved me and locked me up. It's a salvation story: you've hit rock bottom, and someone inexplicably helps you up and carries you on.

----------

The Crown of Dalemark by Diana Wynne Jones
Mitt, accused of murder in the South, has fled North, only to find himself ordered to assassinate the heir to the throne. If he refuses, the lives of his friends are in danger. He joins Moril the musician, Maewen, who has been kidnapped from the future to replace the heir apparent, in their quest to bring peace to Dalemark. But the evil of Kankredin is gathering, and it seems that none of them, or Dalemark, can escape.

Time travel is always hard to sort out, and if the person in question must also play the part of another person, it can quickly become chaotic. This is Jones's style. Her other books seem similarly scattered, but once the ending has been read twice the general feeling is of liking. Jones's descriptions are very powerful.

-----

National Novel Writing Month starts in thirteen days!

Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Vincent Lynn

Denver grew up in a rural Louisiana shack, working for the Man to pay off his ancestor's 'debts'. Then, one day he jumped a train to Fort Worth and lived on the streets until he found himself at a dingy mission.
Ron Hall was an international art dealer used to high-line clothes, cars, and checks. But his wife, Debbie, felt called to help the unfortunate, and she signed them up to volunteer at a homeless mission on Tuesdays, despite Ron's protests. Debbie soon endeared herself to everyone at the mission, and Ron reluctantly found himself drawing closer to Denver. Their friendship and faith, however, would soon be tested by heartbreaking tragedy.

If you don't know anything- if you can't read, write, and are in the middle of nowhere- how do you know you are in slavery? There's something of a double meaning in this book: Ron was trapped by his false sense of superiority, and unable to embrace his friends until he lost everything. The old paradox Die to Live. In the same way, Denver was trapped by decades of racism, and we're trapped in sin. But, as a Longfellow poem we read recently in Lit says, there's light behind the clouds, even if we can't see it. Denver and Ron worked through their differences and became as close as brothers, and we can do the same.


Mom and Dad are out of town; we're being watched by Anna The Intern, who is being called Ellen. She brought the Sword and the Stone for us to watch. As The Once and Future King is one of my favorite books, it's exciting. There is also cookie baking happening.

At Last! or, Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Sorry about the delay. Our desktop is down and I couldn't post on the laptops until now. It would have been cool if I could say At last! One year later..., but I'll have to settle with Has it really been twenty-eight days?

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George
In fairy tales, the maiden is always saved from a dragon by a knight in shining armor. But it is Creel who saves herself with her own quick thinking, and gets a gift from the dragon's hoard in the bargain: a pair of magic slippers. Creel goes to the city to get a job at a dress-makers, and her slippers constantly attract attention- from a co-worker all the way up to the crown-prince's spoiled fiancee, Amalia. When the slippers are stolen and a war looms, Creel must use her skills and brains to save her country.

A good story. In Andrew Lang's fairy tales, the maiden is helpless, dependent on the dueling abilities of a prince. Dragon Slippers was a happy medium between that and the modern stories where the princess cuts off the dragon's head herself. That's one side of the feminist movement that I don't appreciate: empowering women are ones who are beautiful and buff; Creel is plain but smart, and she is the one who saves the day.

Travel/ Summer Reading Part I

What a summer! It's been way too long since May 27th, and there are a lot of books to report.

First up is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I only took a couple books on the forty-ish round-trip up to Michigan, in the hope that it would keep me a long time. This expectation was fulfilled. It was great.

Imprisoned for stealing bread, Jean Valjean escapes bitter and despairing. An attempted robbery leads to his means of salvation: a little girl, Cossette. The two are thrust into a battle of good and evil. They are tracked by the idealist Javert and the swindler Thenardier and Cossette's suitor Marius, the tensions coming to the breaking point in the uprising of 1832.

The making of a two-sided hero is Hugo's genius. Jean is the beloved philanthropist, yet he cannot bear to let Cossette go. He lives in a paradox: he must have a happy Cossette near, yet being kept by his side makes her unhappy. Jean is the villain and the saint.
Such men seem to appear often in Hugo's world. Marius is great, yet he deliberately tyrannizes his grandfather. Javert has a conscience, so he ruthlessly pursues Jean. I wonder if Hugo saw men as they really are: we all have contrary, hypocritical desires, though we all lean toward the bad. Without divine intervention, we all end up like Thenardier. Perhaps this was why Hugo was a revolutionist: the utopia promised by Napoleon seemed like it would make everyone more like the bishop who saved Jean.

------

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Scout Finch lives in a quiet Alabama town. She goes to school and hates it; wrestles with her brother Jem; and creeps around the local haunted house with her friend Dill. But one summer the town is divided by a seemingly simple legal matter: a black man has been accused by a white man. Unexpectedly, things weren't as simple as they seemed. Family and friends are suddenly more important than they seemed.

A classic. To me, things like that seem obvious: Tom Robinson is a good man, and the Ellers are notoriously bad. Robinson wins the case. I guess it should have been obvious to them as well, but no one thought that way. To try and make a change through all that prejudice and bad feeling would have been mind-boggling. I hope I can do something as needed and life-changing as Mr. Atticus Finch pleading for Tom Robinson.

The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

Gabriel Syme, recently made a philosopher-policeman, finds himself at a meeting for a group of anarchists headed by the enigmatic Sunday. He is unexpectedly made Thursday, and is involved in a plot to bomb the Czar and the President of the French Republic. However, before he was taken to the meeting, he was made to swear that he would not reveal the group to the police, and when he attempts to frustrate the plot himself the story grows increasingly fantastic.

Chesterton said, "You've got that eternal idiotic idea that if anarchy came if would come from the poor. Why should it? The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich object have always objected to being governed at all."
In this story the opposition comes from the seemingly innocent and stupid; and the friends are those who seem to be anarchists. Syme's world is continually turned upside down.

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson

The evil Fangs of Dang are looking for the Jewels of Anniera that were lost when Anniera fell. Their leader, the ruthless Gnag the Nameless, is desperate to find them, and he seems to think that the small Igiby family has them. Janner, Tink, and Leeli, and their dog Nugget are plunged into a series of adventures with the Fangs, Peet the Sock Man, and toothy cows that will change them forever.

Andrew Peterson has a knack for coupling scary things with funny ones. Who wouldn't smile at the paradox of Gnag the Nameless, even though he sends the Black Carriage that carries people to their inevitable doom? Isn't the idea of toothy cows funny, even though their fangs enable them to eat people? These pairings keep the book from becoming a horror story, yet they're not over the top. It's still serious. Peterson has written a very good book that walks a thin line between scary and comedy.
Peterson also has a really good CD out called Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

When Anne Shirley comes to them by mistake, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables in Avonlea are hesitant to keep her. However, Anne soon charms everyone she meets with her imagination, vocabulary, and enjoyment of everything. Despite tragedy and misunderstandings, Anne grows from a dreamy girl into a beautiful, loving woman.

Hooray! I've read it, and liked it much better than the Children's Abridged version. I might have said this in my last post, but Anne reminds me a lot of myself. I think we'd be kindred spirits, and it's much more fun to read a book if you could be reading about yourself. Though Anne's grudge toward Gilbert seems contrary to the rest of the book. She's very forgiving the rest of the time.
Some classics are only 'classics' because they're old and written by people who wrote other old and likewise boring stuff. Anne of Green Gables is neither old nor boring. In other words, Read this book!

Indeed, Krammy- cnict is kkkk-nickt, with an almost nonexistant T.

Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson

My grandmother gave me this book when she was here last weekend. Upon looking at it, I realized that I had never read the real Green Gables. I read this book and plan to read the others soon.

Before Green Gables: When Anne Shirley's parents die within a week of each other from consumption, Anne is sent to foster home after foster home, eventually ending up in an orphanage. What keeps her going is her imagination: friends like Violetta and Katie Maurice, words such as exquisite and absolutely, and her unfailing belief that one day some one will love her.

Very good. As a person with red hair and freckles, I had fun reading about Anne, but I can't imagine having such a life. It says something about you, that your imagination and love survived during hard times with everyone hating you. I wish I were like that.

School's out!
Already I don't know what to do: there's just so much time.

Puns

I thought of a cool pun the other day.
The thought process goes like this: In Old English, cnict means boy. It's where we get our modern knight. I like knights. But cnict sounds like knit, and I like knitting. I could be a cnictter.
See the cnittion?

More wordplay: sumus, which is the first plural of the to be verb, is a palindrome.

I had a lot of time on my hands.

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

Fifteen years ago, the Ninth Legion of the Roman Empire marched past Hadrian's Wall and disappeared. Marcus's father was the Legion's Centurion. Marcus, discharged from the army by a wound, finds himself wondering more and more what happened to the Legion. He and a friend journey to the north to find the Legion, Marcus's father, and the eagle of the Ninth.

Good. I always enjoy stories with Celts, and this was particularly well done. Sutcliff must have researched incredibly hard for all the details. But I wondered how Esta felt about taking the eagle from the tribes. I mean, it was their battle emblem that gave them the courage to go fight the Romans. As a Celt, wouldn't Esta have wanted to let it stay there so that his people would win?

Sorry it's been so long.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo: Edmond Dantes is accused of being a Bonapartist by three jealous friends, and is sent to the eerie Chateau D'If for life. At If there is also an abbe called Faria, who over ten years has dug a tunnel connecting the two cells. Faria mentors Dantes, provides him with the means of escape and puts in him an all-consuming passion for revenge on his betrayers. After fourteen years at If, Dantes resurfaces, now as the rich and enigmatic Count of Monte Cristo.

This is a creepy book, but wonderful because of it. Monte Cristo is mysterious and disgustingly rich and has several pseudonyms all at the same time and is amazingly foresighted in his revenge. He is a hero, but sometimes I was unsure- to want to kill Mercedes's son Albert because he was Fernand's son as well? But he loves Mercedes! And then to want to kill himself because he swore he wouldn't kill Albert? Heroic to eventually refuse to duel, but cowardly to say your honor's gone. Needless to say, Monte Cristo is far more complicated than most protagonists. I vote that we start writing them like that- no victories are clear-cut; no one is exactly who he seems to be; everyone is mad and despairing: yet it ends well and satisfying.

It is not a good idea to read a book that requires lots of special letters in the report- accented Es, arrowed Is- and has its names in a language that is not spelled as it sounds. Someone please tell me if any of this is spelled wrong!

Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer

The report is that an asteroid will hit the moon, making a nice view for sky-watchers. But when the rock hits, it is far larger than expected, and blasts the moon much closer to earth. Things go horribly, drastically wrong. The tides are disrupted, causing tsunamis; the change in pressure causes long-dormant volcanoes to erupt, blocking out the sun. Miranda and her family struggle to survive and find what can save them: hope.

Very good. A great pulling of a horrible, fantastical-yet-possible occurrence and real people. It was so sad. Very few books make me close to crying and thinking so hard like this: what would I do if that happened? Would I be able to give up so much? Would I keep hope and faith in face of death? The questions you don't think about often, and try not to when you do. Good questions. Read this book.

If I'm not mistaken, pfeffer means 'spices'. Susan Spice. :)

Happy Leap Day!

Scoop by Rene Gutteridge

At Channel 7 News, an intriguing news story turns the station upside down. The executive producer takes more Blue Pills- until they disappear and he cracks; cautious Ray returns to the house of the man who attacked him; the anchorwoman disappears mysteriously; and Hayden Hazard prays in public. When disaster threatens, can Channel 7 pull through?

Interesting. It was confusing at first- until the very end it seems like the whole book has been random facts. I thought that Hayden was a little overdone...but perhaps that was the point. Be bold and tell everyone about your faith, what you think. Do things you're not comfortable with.

A good quote from the book: burp the Tupperware = seal the deal.

Ender's Game Revised

Ender Wiggin is the hero the world has been waiting for. He is smart, hurting, a Third, and a leader. And the world needs a hero: the aliens, called buggers, are preparing for the Third Invasion, and to stop them they must be completely annihilated. Ender is sent to the Battle School when he is six, where he trains with other children. They live to fight. When he is twelve, he is sent to Command School. He thinks he is merely playing games on the simulator, but what he is really doing is fighting the buggers.

Ender is a very interesting character. He used to be afraid and lonely, but they turned the fear into hatred. He turned into Peter. But is this good or bad? The world doesn't mind; he killed the buggers, but the buggers were never the enemy. Possible Hypothesis #1- the buggers are simply weak antagonists. #2- Ender is his own enemy. #3- Card didn't like the social system and wanted it to be communist. #2 is most likely in my mind. Perhaps the ending is his trying to redeem himself- he certainly didn't like being tricked into killing the buggers.
Please help me out on this. I'm confused. It seemed like such a simple story.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender Wiggin has been destined since birth to go to the Battle School, where an army of children prepares to fight the buggers. Six years old when he arrives, he is quickly moved up with older and older boys, always fighting, training. He becomes a killer machine that will defeat the buggers once and for all.

Very violent, but interesting at the same time. Demosthenes and Locke were amazing, but the buggers weren't good bad guys. It seemed like they were suppposed to be the enemy, but sometimes Ender himself was. His own worst enemy. I couldn't figure it out.