Bogormen

Title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Author: L. Frank Baum Genre: Classics Rating: 8/10 # pages: Audiobook Date read: September, 2007

Summary: Originally published in 1900, it was the first truly American fairy tale, as Baum crafted a wonderful out of such familiar items as a cornfield scarecrow, a mechanical woodman, and a humbug wizard who used old-fashioned hokum to express that universal theme, "There's no place like home."

Follow the adventures of young Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, as their Kansas house is swept away by a cyclone and they find themselves in a strange land called Oz. Here she meets the Munchkins and joins the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion on an unforgettable journey to the Emerald City, where lives the all-powered Wizard of Oz.

Review: Like almost everybody else I knew the story of the Wizard of Oz thanks to the Judy Garland movie. When I discovered it on Librivox, I figured it was time I actually got to know the original story. It's just as charming as I expected, and I have to say from what I recall the movie is amazingly true to the book :-)

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Title: The Wind in the Willows Author: Kenneth Grahame Genre: Classics Rating: 6/10 # pages: 74 installments on DailyLit Date read: September, 2007

Summary: A linked series of animal tales by Kenneth Grahame, considered a classic of English children's literature. The book was begun as a series of bedtime stories for Grahame's son and was published in 1908. The tales relate the adventures of four animal friends and neighbors in the English countryside--Mole, Rat, Toad (of Toad Hall), and Badger. Although the animals converse and behave like humans, each creature also retains its distinctive animal habits.

Review: I know it's a classics, but I was disappointed. Sure it's cute, but only slightly, and I got so incredibly annoyed with Toad I couldn't enjoy the last few chapters at all. I can't even say that it's because I was too old for the book, because I first tried reading it as a tween and found it too boring to finish. How did this ever become a classic?

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Title: The Book of Lost Things Author: John Connelly Genre: Fantasy Rating: 8/10 # pages: 302 Date read: September, 2007

Summary: 12-year-old David is thrust into a realm where eternal stories and fairy tales assume an often gruesome reality. Books are the magic that speak to David, whose mother has died at the start of WWII after a long debilitating illness. His father remarries, and soon his stepmother is pregnant with yet another interloper who will threaten David's place in his father's life. When a portal to another world opens in time-honored fashion, David enters a land of beasts and monsters where he must undertake a quest if he is to earn his way back out. Connolly echoes many great fairy tales and legends (Little Red Riding Hood, Roland, Hansel and Gretel), but cleverly twists them to his own purposes. Despite horrific elements, this tale is never truly frightening, but is consistently entertaining as David learns lessons of bravery, loyalty and honor that all of us should learn.

Review: In many ways this book reminded me a lot of both "The Eyre Affair" and "The Never-Ending Story" even though it's not a book David disappears into this time. Still the atmosphere is the same. It's a pretty good book but not one that will (I don't think) leave any lasting impression on me.

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Title: The Secret of Chimneys Author: Agatha Christie Genre: Suspense Rating: 7/10 # pages: 179 Date read: September, 2007

Summary: The indiscrete memoirs of a count and a bunch of revealing letters cause first a daring theft and next murder. A young adventurous never failing courage starts a breathtaking hunt for the criminals which does not reach its end until a group of distinguished weekend-guests at the famous resort Chimneys.

Review: A lot of characters that can be tricky to keep straight at first, but once you get into it, it's a fairly decent crime novel with lots of twists and turns.

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Title: Digging To America Author: Anne Tyler Genre: Cultural Rating: 9/10 # pages: 277 Date read: September, 2007

Review: Through an amazing coincidence, two families are gathered to meet the same flight in order to welcome home the Korean girls they have adopted. Thrown together by chance, the Donaldsons and the Yazdans become friends, even though they have nothing in common other than adopting girls from the same country.

The Donaldsons is a big and boisterous all-American family who'll use any excuse to hold a party. They let their girl keep her Korean name, and try to teach her as much about her culture as possible. The Yazdans on the other hand is a small and private family of first-generation Americans hailing from Iran. They immediately decided to Americanize the name of their girl, in order to help her fit in as easily as possible.

Digging to America is a wonderful tale of the first five years the girls spend in USA. The characters are described lovingly but with tongue in cheek, making the reader immediately care for these quirky people. Sure Mother Donaldson thinks she knows everything better than the Yazdans and Grandmother Yazdan secretly looks down upon the Donaldsons for being "so typically American", but through the years they get to know and love each other and realize they aren't so different after all.

The point of view changes from chapter to chapter with every second chapter being told by somebody from the Donaldson family and every second by somebody from the Yazdan family. This works out really well and is a good way to show the personality of all the main characters.

I couldn't put the book down once I started it. For one thing my husband and I have considered adoption ourselves, and therefore I had a personal interest in the book. But even if that hadn't been the case I would still have enjoyed it, because it is an incredibly charming book. The characters are complete with flaws and everything, they're people I know and love and I feel at home together with them.

A perfect comfort read about two families, how they work independently and together, and what it really means to be an American.
(Written for Armchair Interviews.)

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Title: Gilead Author: Marilynne Robinson Genre: Fiction Rating: 7/10 # pages: 244 Date read: September, 2007

Summary: From the first page the voice of Rev. John Ames mesmerizes with his account of his life, and that of his father and grandfather. Ames is 77 years old in 1956, in failing health, with a much younger wife and six-year-old son; as a preacher in the small Iowa town where he spent his entire life, he has produced volumes and volumes of sermons and prayers, "[t]rying to say what was true." But it is in this letter to his young son, who he imagines reading it when he is grown that his meditations on creation and existence are fully illumined. Ames details the often harsh conditions of perishing Midwestern prairie towns, the Spanish influenza and two world wars. He relates the death of his first wife and child, and his long years alone attempting to live up to the legacy of his fiery grandfather, a man who saw visions of Christ and became a controversial figure in the Kansas abolitionist movement, and his own father's embittered pacifism. During the course of Ames's writing, he is confronted with one of his most difficult and long-simmering crises of personal resentment when John Ames Boughton (his namesake and son of his best friend) returns to his hometown, trailing with him the actions of a callous past and precarious future. In attempting to find a way to comprehend and forgive, Ames finds that he must face a final comprehension of self - as well as the worth of his life's reflections.

Review: I have a very hard time deciding what I think of this book. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, and the atmosphere reminds me very much of "Remains of the Day", but my overall impression of it is that it was a bit dull. Charming to be sure, but I never felt that I got under the skin of the characters. They allowed me to look at their lives, but never invited me to take part of it. It was a nice and relaxing book, but not one I see myself rereading anytime soon.

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Title: The Christmas Wish Author: Karen Farrell-Jaworski Genre: Christian fiction Rating: 2/10 # pages: 152 Date read: September, 2007

Review: Mary Warren is committed to the Lord and has waited her entire life to meet the man He has chosen for her, saving herself for him. In one tragic twist of fate she is brutally raped as she walked home from church, and finds herself pregnant. Through many tears and prayers she decided to keep the child, but will her soul mate still want her, now that she is no longer pure?

Mary experiences the most devastating and intrusive crime any woman could, and only through the grace of God is she able to continue her life. Fortunately God has given her a wonderful friend and a devoted mother to help her through this horrible time in her life. With time she's able to heal and is ready to open up her heart when Mr. Right comes by - just at the right time to stand by her side as the rapist is found and she has to testify against him in court.

The plot is heartbreaking and Mary's situation is one any woman can relate to. In the right hands, this premise could have been developed into a wonderful book. A combination of "Atonement Child" and "His Perfect Faithfulness" - both books I loved. However, the ubiquitous errors in spelling and grammar, not to mention the sensationalized descriptions, make this book difficult to read (although I'll admit to giggling when a three carrot diamond ring was described). Worse, the morals seem to be thrown at the reader rather than being an integral and uplifting part of the story.

I am really sorry I didn't like this book. I expected to love it and wanted to love it, because the plot sounded amazing. Unfortunately because of lack of proper editing the book ended up being stilted, unrealistic and idealistic - even for a Christian reader. (Written for Armchair Interviews.)

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Title: The Railway Children Author: Edith Nesbit Genre: Classics Rating: 8/10 # pages: Audiobook Date read: September, 2007

Summary: Three children, forced to alter their comfortable lifestyle when their father is taken away by strangers, move with their mother to a simple cottage near a railway station where their days are filled with excitement and adventure.

Review: hsing_mom recommended that I listened to the LibriVox recording of this book, as it was - as she put it - "A delightful book and a wonderful recordning." I have to agree on both accounts. It's a sweet little nothing of a book in the charming style of "Five Peppers" and "Seven Little Australians". An excellent comfort book, and one that I'll definitely be introducing to my children while they are still young enough to fully enjoy it.

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