The Last Unicorn

I finished this novel two days ago. In all honesty, I wasn't anticipating that I'd enjoy it as much as I did. I've never been into fairies and unicorn, or magicians and evil Kings. Apparently I'm okay with vampires though, haha, which seems a little odd that I don't enjoy the rest.

At any rate, I think The Last Unicorn was a fantastic read; thanks to whoever recommended that for me.

I was a little worried when the back cover said it was "whimsical and sensuous," but it totally worked. The often time rhyme-y and odd speeches only added, in my opinion, to the story. That's probably only because for every whimsy detail there was a more modern flare to balance it out. In the middle of it all someone was called a dude, and I loved it.

I loved Schmendrick, the Magician (who was teased mercilessly; "can't even turn butter into cream"). Molly Grue was probably my favorite. She was completely unrefined and unrepetent, but she had a good heart. Prince Lir broke my heart into a million pieces come the end, and The Unicorn...well, I'm not exactly sure what to say about her. Beautiful. Immortal. Oddly detached. I think she had the most brillant character arch I've come across yet.

The Last Unicorn is a short read -- only 215 pages. Sad story that it took me so long to read it, but I enjoyed every minute of it and would definitely recommend it for your enjoyment as well.


Next I'm reading A Northen Light by Jennifer Donnelly.

*BzzZzzZzz*

Amazing novel. Honestly, I wasn't convinced I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. Hands down, it's my favorite book thus far. Move over Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, while you're hilarious and fun to read, The Secret Life of Bees touched me in ways you failed to. I was sad to turn the last page.

The characters were brilliant and consistent. Nearly all of them were loveable; honestly, I've never thoroughly adored every character in a novel the way I did in this one. Even T. Ray, the asshole father, tugged at my heart strings. That's not an easy feat. I felt sorry for the man, and at the end I saw him a little bit differently.

The main character, Lily Ownes, lied and cheated and she stole, but it was difficult to hold a grudge against her because of it. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that. Rosaleen was hysterical. August was the kind of wise god mother figure every little girl (or boy, I guess) should have. May broke my heart. And I couldn't help but root for Zach and Neil. I cherished each and every one of them.

It was mildly slow in the beginning, but as soon as Lily and Rosaleen begin their journey it becomes impossible to put down. Had it not been for work and other responsibilities, I would have remained in bed to read it from cover to cover. It was that good. Even the ending was satisfying!

I've heard other reviewers and critics mention books that had a "true Southern voice." I never knew what that meant until I began to read this one. The accent -- that smooth, almost lazy talk was so clear in my head, which I think just added to the story. It didn't even bother me that it was written in first person!

Kidd did an amazing job. I just...it's my favorite. My new favorite novel. I borrowed it from the library. Now I have to look on Amazon to buy it. I just can't not own the thing.

*sigh* Really sad to know it's finished though. Now I have to watch the movie.

The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle is next.

Viola!

I finished reading The Host around 12:30 this morning. I practically devoured the last half of the book. Like I've heard mentioned, I'll agree that it is a bit strange. It's mildly slow in the beginning, but soon becomes fast-paced and hard to put down. For anyone who doesn't know what this book is about, and without giving too much away, it's about an alien (they're called Souls; this one's name is Wanderer) who inhabits a body (the host; Melanie). Melanie, however, doesn't disappear like she's supposed to, and Wanderer is stuck with her memories and emotions. Shennighans ensue.

Strange, yes, but totally an awesome read.

This novel, and the four books from the Twilight Saga, further confirms my theory that Stephenie Meyer was a Roswell fan. No one can convince me otherwise. That's probably another reason why I enjoyed the book so much.

With that said, I still have a few issues with the way she wrote her book(s).

I just don't do 1st Person very well. It's too limited, and more often than not that author tries to break through the limitations. They fail; only succeeding in irritating me.

Also, and I don't know why she does this, but SM likes to tell stories within her dialogue. She did this in the Twilight Series (I think it was Eclipse? Whichever one that Rosalie told her story), and she did it a bit in The Host, too.

She tries to have a character tell the story of his/her past. She goes into detail, which is great...but when she gets to the dialogue portion, she flubs it up. It's not believable; I don't like it. I...can't explain it very well. While a character -- let me use Rosalie...

While Rosalie is telling her story, she gives great detail. Which is wonderful. Good stories require a lot of detail. When she is telling Bella what the guys said to her, though, that's when it becomes unrealistic. She uses tags: "he said maliciously" within her story, as in, within the dialogue.

No one talks like that. No one tells their best friend what their douchebag ex-boyfriend said to them -- not like that. It's weird. I noticed it right away. I don't like it. It irritates me. (This is probably horribly confusing...)

...But I still really enjoyed the books, lol! People think that when I nitpik about stuff like that, then I don't like what I'm reading. Unfortunately, it's quite the opposite. The more I like the book, the more I pick at it. I think it should be perfect.

Unrealistic, I know. *shrug*

So, I went to the library today and picked up four books. I'll probably end up having to recheck some of them out, haha. But I'm starting, today, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Then, I think, I'll read The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle. The other two books I checked out are A Northen Light by Jennifer Donnelly and Atonement by Ian McEwan. Pretty stoked about it.

I totally forgot how awesome libraries are. They smell nice. And they're quiet. It's pretty much heaven.

Dinner and movie tonight. I wanna read some before then....

Byye!

& It Feels So Good

So, I've been gone for a bit. I've actually just returned a few days ago from the Happiest Place on Earth. I *love* Disney World.

With that said, battling the masses of people and the elderly on scooters, while racing madly through the Magic Kingdom (and the rest of the parks), it left me little time to read.

I have...much to my chagrin...shelved Anna Karenina for now. I do fully intend to pick it up later. Right now, I'm just not into it. I did start reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer before I left for Florida. I'm just about half way finished with it -- it's so wonderful. I do enjoy it immensely, just as I suspected I would. I feel much better, actually being able to sit down and get absorbed in a book again. Yay!

I have no idea what to read next. I bought, recently, East of Eden by Steinbeck; my co-worker was reading it and was just gushing the whole way. She said it was awesome. So, I wanted it to put it on my list.

I also bought a hardback edition of Charlotte's Web, but that's just because it was my favorite childhood book and I lost my old copy. I put it in my bookshelf, and I just like to stare at it. It was such a darling little book!

But this is what I'm thinking about picking up next::

I'll Scream Later by Marlee Matlin -- this is pretty much a biography, which I swore I wouldn't do. But I love her, and made the exception.

Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Sharon Lathan -- this I bought at Target on a whim. It's supposed to be the sequel to Pride and Prejudice. I hope it's good....

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult -- I own several of her books, and I loved them. So I'm sure this is going to be win, as well.

Those are all books that I currently have waiting in my shelf. I could, instead, breakout my library card and pick something else::

The Story of Edward Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Or I can look for that odd series by the author who wrote Crank and Identical. Those are supposed to be wicked.

*shrug* We'll see. It feels good to read again.

I Don't Even Know

I really want to finish Anna Karenina, but I'm dragging. I haven't picked up the book in a week. The writing has been going phenomenally -- I'm so excited about that! But it's at the expense of my reading time.

For a while, I was reading a little bit every night before I went to bed. I tried to squeeze an hour out of it, but sometimes it didn't hold my interest, and I struggled to stay awake. Now, my nights have consisted of staying awake until the wee hours writing continuously. The results are stupendous!

I feel very conflicted about the whole thing. I don't want to be loser and not read the book ((it really does have its moments where it's wonderful...)), but at this rate, I feel like I'll never get to read anything else from my booklist. I feel like maybe I ought to pick a different book, something a bit more appealing -- something that'll be easier for me to read and enjoy. Maybe then the reading/writing will be easier to balance.

I kind of hate myself right now.

I, Epic Fail

I pretty much suck. I've been reading Anna Karenina for, what?, over two weeks now? I'm not far along, at all. In fact, it's so embarrassing how much I have not been reading, that I refuse to release what page number I am.

I fail at life.

Sort of. I say that because, while I'm still struggling to get through the novel ((it's taken over 60 pages to meet the main character: WTF?)), I have reached my main goal. It's not to read 50 books this year; yes, it's important, but I decided to participate in this challenge because reading encourages me to write. By reading, I'm assaulted by my muse, my inspiration, my what-have-you. And when I haven't been reading, I've been writing. And it feels amazing.

Granted, it hasn't been for my NaNoWriMo novel, but it's still something. I'm supposed to write everyday, yeah? Well, these past two weeks, I have been. It's been awesome.

So, while I fail, I still win!!

I love it.

...Hopefully I'll stop being a chump and actually finish Anna Karenina. Honestly, though it's a tad on the boring side, there are portions that just draw me in. But, like Love in the Time of Cholera, they don't last very long.

Anyway, update. Sucky as it is.

"Your balls, Mr. Darcy?" "They belong to you, Miss Bennet."

For anyone who may be reading this ... I go a little nuts in this post. Spoilers will be revealed. You have been duly warned.


Just like I knew I would, I have fallen in love with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It basically removes every thing that I hated about the original ((which, honestly, wasn't much)), and added every thing that it had been sorely missing That is Grahame-Smith took out all the unnecessary long-windedness of Austen and got right to the point. That's not to say I think the zombies were a "missing" piece to the original novel, but I do think it was a nice touch.

Most importantly, having completed the novel, it hasn't made me favor the original work less; it makes me appreciate it more. While Grahame-Smith tries to mimic Austen's style, he doesn't quite nail it. It's kind of like reading a fanfiction. A really, really good, exceedingly funny and violent fanfiction. Still impressive, for sure. I loved and hated ((and loved to hate)) an assortment of characters in the original, and I get to do the same in this edition as well, only I get more satisfaction out of the way certain players got their comeuppance, if you will.


Elizabeth, I felt, was pretty badass in Pride and Prejudice. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind. She was smart, and witty, and impressive yet modest. And most importantly, she was not infallible. When she made a mistake, she admitted it. In and Zombies, she's still all of those things, with the exception that she wields a Katana sword. True story, and I freakin' love it. Turns out, Daddy ((who is awesome)) sent his daughters to China to learn under a Master Liu-something-or-other in the deadly arts. There they learned kickass skills to defeat the icky zombies. They are all quite impressive, and of course Elizabeth is the best. The final show down between her and Her Ladyship was brillant. Whoa.

Mr. Bennet I also enjoyed in the original, though he made me a little frustrated at times. I never understood how he could continually hold his composure in regards to that nutty woman he called a wife. She got on my ever-livin' nerves. It was funny when he'd toss out zingers that would fly over her head, but just once I wanted him to mention one that she was sure to comprehend. In this one, Mr. Bennet is decidedly blunt. I think my favorite Mr. Bennet line is when he pleads for Mrs. Bennet to "spare [him] the expense of having [her] lips sewn shut." On numerous other occassions he complains about her "prattling" while I continue to laugh. Such was the attitude he was missing in the original.

Mrs. Bennet is exactly the same. I hate her, and I love it.

Charlotte Lucas becomes a zombie. ((HA!)) She is beheaded, most honorably.

Mr. Collins is short and fat. He is continually describe as short and fat. He can't defend himself against the unmentionables. He's just as annoying as ever. He hangs himself after beheading his wife.


Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a pretty kickass old bag. She's slain 10 thousand ((maybe?)) unmentionables in her day. She has a dojo in her home, and a plethora of ninjas at her disposal. She's just as uppity as ever.

Mr. Darcy is pretty much the same. Tall, handsome, arrogant and oblivious, plus he has mad musketry skills and was educated in Japan. He, too, is a slayer of zombies. And of course, he falls in love with Elizabeth for all the same reasons as before, with the addition of her rivaling deadly arts skills. I particularly love the sparring match between the two when he proposes for the first time. It's kind of like foreplay. Mr. Darcy is also is a little less censored. He specifically tells Miss Bingley that she'd enjoy balls better if she "knew the first thing about them." Such a remark causes Elizabeth to blush and try not to laugh.

Mr. Wickham is still an epic bag of douche. She still seduces the ridiculous Lydia, and many others, leaving in his wake a trail of debts and bastards (("a bastard-maker?"- quoted from Jane Bennet)). His commeupance is the most satisfying of all, I do believe. Not only is he forced to marry Lydia, but he gets the hell beaten out of him by Darcy. He is left paralyzed and bed-ridden, where he continually soils himself. It's terrific.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I can't express enough that the original Pride and Prejudice is 10 times better. My favorite is still the former, but I do enjoy satire and this was the best. I don't mind at all that this novel is thoroughly poking fun at a classic. It just proves how influential Austen and her works have remained today.

If you love or hate Austen, I would definitely recommend this book.



**Next, I'm reading Anna Karenina. It'll be a while 'til my next post....