Here's what I've read over the last two months.
MARCH
The Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones—12-year-old Aidan shows up just as Andrew, a history-professor-turned-writer, inherits his uncle's magical field of care. I liked this book, but I didn't love it like I loved Howl's Moving Castle or Charmed Life. At this point in my Diana Wynne Jones phase, I think I was starting to get a little burned out.
The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones—Cat Chant, the protagonist from Charmed Life, returns for a new adventure in which he befriends a girl witch. When the two discover a mysterious and highly magical egg, the entire town is thrown into an uproar. Thoughts: This book was okay. I liked parts of it, but thought it dragged in others. As with The Magicians of Caprona, at times I felt like there were too many characters and the story was more complex than it needed to be.
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare—Hermia is in love with Lysander. Helena is in love with Demetrius. Demetrius is in love with Hermia. When the four young lovers run away to the forest, a group of mischievous fairies complicate matters even further. Shakespeare! I can't not like Shakespeare (except in the case of Titus Andronicus—I mean, ew). Magical, lighthearted and fun—what's not to like?
The Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones—A ghost wakes, with only a vague feeling that there's been an accident. Slowly, she regains some of her memories, but her past remains hazy. She knows she was one of four sisters, but which one? This is a strange book, and quite a bit darker than the other Diana Wynne Jones novels I have read. I liked how strange the characters were, but I thought the plot moved too slowly, especially during the first half.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak—A novel set in Nazi Germany, and narrated by death (who, actually, is pretty amiable and sympathetic). The story follows the Book Thief, Liesel Meminger, as she arrives at the home of her new foster parents in a suburb of Munich, and for the next several years as she makes friends, learns to read, steals books, and grows to love her new family. Thoughts: I love this book. I love the characters, the narrator's voice, the relationship between Liesel and her best friend Rudy, and between Liesel and her foster father Hans, who teaches her to read. I just can't adequately explain my love for this novel. If you haven't read it, you need to. Seriously.
Shakespeare by Bill Bryson—Goes over everything we know about William Shakespeare. Which actually isn't a whole lot. Covers what we know about his life and the society in which he lived, and examines the conspiracy theories about his existence. Thoughts: A short, easy-to-read, interesting book.
APRIL
Fruits Basket: Ultimate Edition, volumes 5 and 6—The ever-optimistic Tohru Honda continues to live with the beautiful but cursed Sohma family. Wacky adventures, comedy, innocent romance, drama, and fighting abound. Thoughts: This series is like crack to me! So sad that Tokyopop is no longer active in North America, and the remaining Ultimate Editions were never printed.
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April is kinda deceptive, as I was also working on Shirley by Charlotte Brontë, and The Merchant of Venice, which I'm reading sporadically (mostly because my favorite Shakespeare volume isn't very portable and I read a lot on the go).
So those are my adventures in reading lately. What books have you guys been into recently? Let me know in the comments!
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