Random stuff

So I've been home for several weeks, which means lots of rereading. Some of the stuff I've reread:

Lord of the Rings, The Alleluia Files, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Illusion (the only Paula Volsky book I've ever been able to get through, but I love it), Mansfield Park, The Chronicles of the Chrestomanci Book One, a ton of random romance/ popular novels, and all the Harry Potter books.

New Stuff:
~Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

This book really sucked me in- I read it in one 3-4 hour sitting. It's fairly dense, and uses challenging language, sometimes excessively I felt (I started keeping track of how many times I spotted vertiginous.) However, the language really builds up the imagery in the story, some of which is exceptionally vivid and disturbing. I wouldn't recommend it if you have a queasy stomach- there's TON of mucus imagery along with plenty of violence, but the story and setting completely seized my attention.

~The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

I've just started this, thanks to Lucy. It sure doesn't start off with a "hook"- two chapters about the heath? And I still have trouble picturing it, other than that's it's hilly and dark. Once I came to the character driven chapters I started to enjoy it quite a bit. I've only read this for about an hour so far, but I should finish up in the next few days.

March 27- Dumas, Flaubert, Bradbury, Stroud

Currently Reading:

~The Count of Monte Cristo (Unabridged)

Not finished yet, but it's very different from the abridged version. Much more excitement and poison.

~Madame Bovary

Again, not quite finished with this. Lucy tells me I can keep it. :P


Lately Finished:

~Bradbury Classic Stories 1 : From the Golden Apples of the Sun and R Is for Rocket

This is an amazing collection of short stories. They range in length from 5 pages to 80 pages long, but all managed to grab my attention. I think my favorites were "The Fog Horn," "The Murderer," and "Frost and Fire". I hope the library has a second collection like this. This book made me want to reread "Dandelion Wine" aka. "The Bradbury No One Has Read".

~The Amulet of Samarkand

YA/Juv fantasy fiction. The humorous narration really makes this book. I especially enjoyed the demon's many footnotes, which reminded me of Terry Pratchett's work.