Book Count = 80
Posted by Adrienne on December 31, 2008 under Books | 
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On the very last day of the year, I finished my 80th book for 2008. Fitting, don’t you think? Below is my review of the final two books.
Photo of the Week: Sunset
Posted by Adrienne on under Photos | No Comments
2008 is drawing to a close, and I thought this picture from our fall trip to Westport, Washington was very appropriate:
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| From The Beautiful Pacific Northwest |
Here’s to a great 2009!
Book Count = 78
Posted by Adrienne on December 30, 2008 under Books | No Comments
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a book of fairy tales helps Harry and his friends in their quest to defeat the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. The book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, is a kind of Brothers Grimm in the wizarding world, and all of the stories in it are as well known to wizard children as Snow White or Hansel and Gretel are to those of us without magical ability. But in HP7, only one of the tales is told in full, and the rest are left up to our imaginations, if we ever take the time to think about them.
Now, however, JK Rowling has written the rest of the tales and published them all together. Having enjoyed the Harry Potter series, I asked for (and received, thank you, Mom!) a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard for Christmas, and read it very soon after. Each of the five stories is an interesting little fable, and they do all feel similar to the classic fairy stories I grew up with. Included after each tale is commentary “by Albus Dumbledore” which is a fun read, being completely done in Dumbledore’s enjoyable style. Really, the only complaint I have about the book is that, at 107 pages, it is just too short.
If you, like me, enjoyed the Harry Potter books, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy The Tales as well.
Book Count = 77
Posted by Adrienne on under Books | No Comments
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville is one of those books that makes me wonder how the author ever came up with the premise. This is not to say that the book is a bad one; on the contrary, it was a fantastic read. But the idea was really crazy, with several twists and turns, great (and wacky) characters, a brilliant and sometimes scary setting and a satisfying ending.
Zanna and Deeba are two normal London girls, who notice that strange things have started to happen around them. Oddly shaped clouds, animals behaving in weird ways and a nearly fatal freak accident involving another of their friends convince the two that something is wrong. When they find themselves swept into the abcity*, Unlondon, they realize that it is up to them to put things right in both their world and the wonderland that they’ve been sucked in to.
Doodle Day
Posted by Adrienne on December 28, 2008 under Doodles | No Comments
And a Happy New Year!
