Book 6: The Dark Wife
By Sarah Diemer. Self-Pub ebook
- I went and got myself an kobo arc. I was debating for a while if I should get a tablet/e-reader and what finally convinced me that I had to do it was this review for The Dark Wife. I knew I had to read that book. My opinion? Worth the five bucks it cost me, but it could have been better. The bones are there for a truly amazing story, very, truly amazing. The changes that Diemer makes to the myth are perfect, in my opinion, but she could have gone farther. I wanted more from the story – more epic, more romance, more detail, more dialog from the main character (really, more dialog in general) – but it never delivered. I saw a million intriguing points that it could have gone down, but it didn’t follow them to what I felt was full satisfaction. But, ultimately, it entertained, and that’s all I really want in a book.
Book 7: Peter Pan
By J.M. Barrie, free Kobo ebook
- This is really a peculiar book. All the joy that I find in watching my old cassette of Mary Martin as Peter Pan in the play version is there, making me squeal and giggle with the delight of it. At other times I got the distinct impression that Barrie doesn’t like children – at all. He’s a very present narrator, which at times is fun, but at other times he rambles on about how much he hates Mrs. Darling, or how bratty the children are. And though I truly hate changing old books, preferring to instead change my mind-set, or explain old fashioned words, I would probably rewrite this if I were to read it to any children. Also, Tinkerbell is a complete bitch – like, really a bitch. She tries to kill Wendy. Bet you didn’t know that from that sickeningly-sweet disney version
Book 8 – Wintersmith
By Terry Pratchett, paperback
- What can I say, it’s more Terry Pratchett. *shrug* I am still amazed that, having read 35 our of 39 books in the discworld, how much I still love them. This is the kind of writer I want to be – one who gets better, or at the very least gets no worse, with each book. Nothing does that – not if it’s popular. He is not your average writer, that is for sure.
Book 9 – Dragonsong
By Anne Mccaffery, paperback
- 1st reread of the year, which is impressive in and of itself. I can go through months where I don’t read a single new book. The Harper Hall trilogy are, in my opinion, the best books in the Pern books. They are what got me into Anne Mccaffery, in the same way that Soul Music got me into Pratchett. Guess I’m a sucker for books with music in them. After all the editing I’ve been doing on my own book this is the first book where I kept catching errors too. Didn’t make it any less great, but it was amusing.
Book 10 – Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret
By Judy Blume
- I bought this book a while ago, because it’s known as a classic MG book and I’ve been collecting kids books. And, well… it’s dated. I wouldn’t suggest it to any daughter of mine, that’s for sure, because of the 1970s gender roles that are so prominent and unquestioned. I’m also confused by the entire lack of resolution to the plots – It basically boils down to (spoilers?) she gets her period and that means that everything from her boy issues to her quest for religion is solved. And I felt cheated, because it would have been nice for our main character to have some sort of epiphany about religion (the only plot line that I felt redeemed the book)- but I guess the idea of being a spiritual agnostic is too much for the seventies to handle.