Books 23-29: TAKS Week

Book 23: Ash
Finished; April 25
Pages: 264

Claims to be a retelling of Cinderella, but I would say more that it simply shares some of the motifs of Cinderella: mean stepmother, magic, servitude. I read the first chapters of about 6 books on Monday before I decided to read this one, and then I finished it that day. It was interesting, sometimes confusing, with interesting magic and characters. I particularly liked the fairy tales that were told throughout the book, because they were stories that I had never heard before, and I like when the authors make up new fairy tales but they sound like old stories.
Apparently, according to goodreads, this is a lesbian story, and therefore a big effing surprise. I picked up on the subtle hints that homosexuality was a normal part of the magical world that the author had created. It helps that I am not a teenage girl, though.

Book 24: Chalice
Finished: April 25
Pages: 272

I've read this one before, but it's such a good book I had to read it again. I thought I read it last year, but I can't find my review of it, so maybe I read it back in 2009? There are parts of this story that I loved, and parts of it that I was a little disappointed in. The main character, and the world in which she lives are well developed and interesting. The antagonist seems thrown in at the last minute and not as malicious as I would have hoped for.

Book 25: Penelope's Daughter
Finished: April 26
Pages: 357

Recommended to me by Lydia, this is the story of The Odyssey, sort of. It imagines a world where Odysseus has a daughter born nine months after he leaves for the war. Reminded me a lot of The Red Tent, with an interesting female perspective on a story told formerly only through male eyes. The background information and religious details were interesting and believable. Once I sat down and really tried to read this, I really enjoyed this book, though I will admit it was slow going at the beginning.

Book 26: Perfect Fifths
Finished: April 26
Pages: 258

Another re-read, this is the conclusion to one of my favorite young adult series, and a book that I pick up ever once in a while just to amuse myself for a couple of hours. I really like that it is in five parts, and each part is written in a different style. The first three books are entirely journal entries, and I can't remember how the fourth book was written, but the fifth one starts in third person omniscient, then we get first person, then an entire chapter of dialogue transcript, and then haiku, followed by a return to the first person viewpoints of each character. I dunno, it's not high-brow literature, but I still love this series.

Book 27: The Toughest Indian in the World
Finished: April 27
Pages: 238

Sherman Alexie is awesome. This collection of short stories continues the trend. My favorite story is about a white man who holds us a diner asking everyone for a dollar and for someone to help him believe in love. An old Indian man stands up, is renamed Salmon Boy and they embark on a "non-violent killing spree" across the Southwest.
My favorite quote was from the story "Assimilation", and the relationship between an Indian woman and her white husband, when someone asks about their love:
Love is Love. They knew is was romantic bullshit, a simpleminded answer only satisfying for simpleminded people, but it was the best available defense. Listen, Mary Lynn had once said to Jeremiah, asking somebody why they falling love is like asking somebody why they believe in God. You start asking questions like that, she had added, and you're either going to start a war or you're going to hear folk music (15).

Book 28: Ophelia
Finished: April 28
Pages: 328

Retelling of Hamlet from the point of view of Ophelia. I think that here we have an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. I liked the writing, but Ophelia was at times too wimpy for me, and some of the actions that she takes after the action we know of in the play was a little silly. I did like how some lines from the play were seamlessly thrown in to the dialogue of the novel. Overall, decent, but maybe not my cup of tea.

Book 29: The Graveyard Book
Finished: April 29
Pages: 307

This is an extremely interesting novel for young adults that involves illustrations reminiscent of The Sandman comics that won Gaiman fame. Personally, I love the world that Gaiman has created here, that was inspired by London's High Gate cemetery. Since it's never explicitly stated in the novel, I was merely guessing, until I saw the credits in the back, where he thanks Audrey Niffenegger (of Her Fearful Symmetry fame) for being a tour guide around the cemetery. Since she was a tour guide at High Gate, it all makes sense to me. The premise is that a young child, only one or two years old, barely escapes from a murderer who kills the rest of his family by stumbling out of the house and into the cemetery. There, the ghosts and other protectors of the cemetery vow to keep him safe until such a time as he is able to fend for himself. Named Nobody Owens by his ghostly parents, he grows up hidden in the cemetery, learning how to Haunt, and create Fear and Terror, and other ghostly talents, as well as learning traditional education from 15th century schoolmarms. The reader follows Bod as he discovers the world outside the cemetery and unravels the mystery about his parents' deaths.
Seriously, it's adorable and quirky and hilarious, just as I would expect from Gaiman.

Good Reading,
Caitlin