Two graphic novels

I've been missing in action again, dealing with personal stuff and another period of pregnancy exhaustion. I've also developed pregnancy related carpel tunnel syndrome, just to add to my list of woes, so sitting at the computer is not my favorite thing to do... I apologise, as I know I've been a terrible blogger and haven't visited anyone in ages. I shudder to think how many unread posts my reader has! I promise to catch up a bit in the next few days though.

I have been reading some, although not as much as I'd have liked to. Graphic novels have been somewhat easier to manage and I have now added an extra two to my list.

The first, The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg, was about a girl named Jane, whose family moves from a big city to suburbia following a terrorist attack. Jane misses the city though and finds it hard to adjust to her new life, with its limitations imposed by her terrified and paranoid mother. She makes some friends at school and as a group they start using art to pass on express themselves - which is seen as beautiful by some and as defacing public property by others. I liked the art and the message of The Plain Janes and can certainly recommend it.

Challenges: 2010 Countdown Challenge

The second graphic novel I recently read was American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Now this one I absolutely loved. It consists of three seemingly separate stories that come together nicely in the end and is about Chinese young people growing up in the US and trying to fit into the American way of life. It's about identity and roots and how hard it is to come to terms with some of the labels that define you. A beautifully illustrated book with a very smart message, this will end up on my list of favorites for the year, I think.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, 2010 Countdown Challenge, Graphic Novels Challenge

Anne of Avonlea

Ah, what can I say about the lovely Anne with an 'e'? I loved the Anne books when I was a child and am re-reading the whole series now - it's still just as good!

In the second book, Anne of Avonlea, we get more of life in Green Gables and its surroundings, this time with the addition of Davy and Dora, twins who are now under Marilla and Anne's care. Anne has started teaching and is trying out her methods, with mixed success. By the end of the book she's quite the young woman and off to college - can't wait to start the next one now.

I love Anne. There is no limit to how many times I can say that on this blog. She's a beautiful character and the books are simply magical. Oh and the films made by Canadian tv are amazing too. If you still haven't discovered this series, it's time! :-)

Challenges: 999 Challenge, Centuries Challenge, Childhood Favorites

Anatomy of a Boyfriend

Boy, did this bring me back! Daria Snadowsky's coming-of-age book caught all the emotions on paper so well, that I couldn't help but reminisce to that time in my own life... That's always a sign of a good book!

Dominique is 17 and doesn't really have much experience with boys - until she meets Wes. They start dating and then fooling around. Their time together has many firsts for them both and the I thought that the author described them to a T. The strength of Dominique's emotions was so apparent and so raw, it hurt to remember that intensity sometimes.

Snadowsky also added an extra dimension to the story - choosing a college and going off to college - without your high school boyfriend. So hard when you think that your high school boyfriend is all that there is to life.

This book has been comopared to Judy Blume's Forever and Judy Blume liked it herself - can you get better praise than that?

If you like teen literature then I highly recommend this. But be warned, it'll probably take you back to when you were young (and stupid) too! :-)

Challenges: YA Romance, Young Adult Challenge

A is for Alibi

I've been wanting to read Sue Grafton's alphabet series, but the first book, A is for Alibi, has been checked out from the library for ages! I finally got my hands on it and it made for some very pleasant on-the-bus reading.

The books in the series center around private investigator Kinsey Millhone - she's 32, she's divorced, now single and she lives her job. I liked the way the character was set up - you can tell that she has loads of personal issues that can be fleshed out and hopefully worked through as the series progresses. She's a likeable character and I enjoyed the way she went about solving her case. I'm one of those people who never tries to solve the mystery before I finish reading so the ending was a nice and neat conclusion for me.

I'll definitely continue with B is for Burglar . Any other mystery series like this one that I should consider?

Challenges: 1st in a series, Celebrate the Author, New Authors, Support Your Local Library, Suspense and Thriller Challenge

Aesop's Fables

I really enjoyed my audio version of this. The narrator was great and even did some of the animal voices! :-) A nice and quick listen.

I knew that Aesop lived in Ancient Greece (around 620-560 BC) but I didn't know that he was a slave. Apparently there isn't much information on him except that he was freed at some point and that he died in Delphi. Although some scholars claim that he never existed, he is refered to by both Aristophanes and Plato in some of their works. So I guess he did exist after all.

Fables are short tales involving animals, each with a moral at the end. The morals concern lots of areas of life - how to behave, how to relate to people, how to survive, how to be nice and good. I like that animals and plants and ancient Greek Gods are used to illustrate lessons.

There were many that made me smile as I was listening, but of course I can't remember any right now. :-) But I'll give you another interesting piece of information that I read on Wikipedia - the first printed English version came out in 1484.

I will also say that I was surprised that some of the concepts that we all know today actually come from Aesop - like The Boy who Cried Wolf and the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. Many others are also recognisable.

Anyway, these simple life truths are definitely worth listening to, if you haven't done so already.

Challenges: 999 Challenge, Audiobook Challenge, Casual Classics Challenge, Centuries Challenge, Lost in Translation, What an Animal

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I loved this story as a child, although reading it as an adult I'm not quite sure that I actually read the whole thing. I vaguely recall having a beautifully illustrated edition so perhaps I skimmed and mostly looked at the pictures.

In any case, I kind of knew the story of course, but I didn't realise how differently I would take it now. Lewis Carroll's imagination is increadible - he creates a wondrous world for Alice to visit, with interesting creatures and cards to are alive and the ability to change one's size. I love the way this little book is written, almost in a stream-of-consciousness way, as if the author just wrote about whatever the previous section reminded him of.

I also loved the word plays - I laughed out loud many times.

A charming book. I'd like to read Through the Looking Glass too, which I'm sure I've never read. If you're interested, the stories about Carroll and the really Alice are very interesting too. Although the bios I found make no mention of the hallucogenics that he must have been on to create this story!

Challenges: 999 Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Casual Classics, Celebrate the Author (Carroll's birthday is on January 27), Childhood Favorites, Decades 2009

Anne of Green Gables

I already read a L.M. Montgomery book this year, The Story Girl, but I've been so jealous of all you bloggers who have been reading Anne for the first time that I succumbed. Plus I have the whole collection of books in Polish from when I was a teen so it counted towards my Polish reading. I know I don't have to justify, but still. :-)

I love Anne. I've loved her from the first time I read the books and I loved her even more after I saw the Canadian films. All the characters are so beautifully written. And teh stories are so simple and yet what else do you need from a story? Or from life for that matter. I think that's one of the main things I love about the Anne books - Montgomery simplifies life somehow and finds beauty in everything. Isn't that a lovely thing to strive for?

I also love the fact that now that I started I have to go on and read the rest of the series. Yay! :-)

Challenges: 888 Challenge, Classics Challenge

Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret

I am so glad that I read Judy Blume's Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret again - I loved it when I was about 10 or 11 and I can still see why. That has to be a good sign. I have to admit that I went back to it because of the blogging world - I felt kind of silly ordering early-teen literature, but I see now that there are others who are drawn to it! Yea, I'm not crazy! :-)

The story is about 12-year-old Margaret and her life as she tries to come to terms with moving to a new house, her new school, making new friends, plus all the problems of being a 12-year-old girl. It made for a very enjoyable couple of hours.

I'm happy to have read it at this point in my life, when I'm thinking about having kids, it reminded me of what things look like in a kid's head...

Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret gets 4 stars - I'll definitely be re-reading the Judy Blume books I grew up on - plus reading the ones I missed too!