The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle
Although I’ve read other books by Peter S. Beagle, I had not read The Last Unicorn before. It’s mentioned as a classic, and I kept bering disbelief that I had never read it. So I finally picked up a copy and read the book.
The Word of the Day is:
svelte \SVELT\ adjective
1 *a : slender, lithe b : having even and smooth lines : sleek
2 : urbane, suave
Tigana (1990) Guy Gavriel Kay
Why is it that every time I finish one of Guy Gavriel Kay’s books, I ask myself, “How could I have forgotten how good his books are?” Even reading this book for a second time, I was still surprised at how good it was.
Any suggestions?
Tomorrow after work I’m going to The Bookshelf to look for mysteries to loan my grandmother. I’ve got the last batch of recommendations, and a complete list of everything I have, so I can fill in any missing books, but I’m always on the lookout for new books.
Only stipulations are that they’re for my grandmother, so a minimum of naughty bits. And I need to be able to find them used, because my grandmother gives me a hard time if I bring her new books to read, even though she’s only borrowing them.
Because she thinks that I’m buying the books just for her to read.
(innocent whistling)
No one tagged me, I just took it upon myself. Because the only thing better than reading books is talking and writing about them.
(via Making Light)
Total number of books owned:
1558. Not including new books that have not yet been added into the database.
This is the total for the house, so some of these books are Michael’s and I won’t ever read them.
Last book bought:
In the mail as I type…
Sabriel by Garth Nix – A birthday gift for someone.
Poland James A. Mitchner – A birthday gift for a different someone.
Latin American Folktales : Stories from Hispanic and Indian Traditions by JOHN BIERHORST – I love folktales, and I like the Pantheon collections the best. I’m really looking forward to reading this collection, and hope they continue to expand the collection (I’m hoping for more areas of Eastern Europe, but beggars can’t be choosers).
Brilliance of the Moon (Tales of the Otori) by Lian Hearn – I found the first two books of this series last month, and wanted to start reading them, but held off because I didn’t have book three.
Last book read:
The Shadow Roads (The Swan’s War) by Sean Russell – I just finished this book
The Assassins of Tamurin by S.D. Tower – I’m currently reading this book (as of Monday, 6 June 2005)
Five books that mean a lot to you:
Green Eggs and Ham Dr Seuss
The first book I ever read by myself.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
My Dad gave me the “illustrated” version (illustrated with pictures from the made-for-tv-movie [which I’ve never seen]) when I was in elementary school, and I loved it. For ages I thought it was the best book in the entire world. Despite the fact that within a few years pagers were falling out in chunks, I continued to read the book again and again. Several years ago my Dad got me a hardback version of the same book, so now I can go back and read without fear of losing pages.
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Vol I and II by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The first “grown-up” book I ever received as my own. At 12 1/2 I didn’t have too many hardback books with covers, so it felt like a big thing to receive these adult books for my own. I immediately loved Sherlock Holmes, and would try to improve my “powers of observation” in case I witnessed a crime, so I could be a good witness. Although the powers of observation never took, I still love reading those two volumes. I managed to keep the covers until I loaned the books to someone a couple of years ago, and the books came back naked. I’m still bitter.
Best-Loved Folktales of the World by Joanna Cole
I’m not certain when I received this collection, but I have so many fond memories of reading this book that even looking at the cover gives a small feeling of happiness. I didn’t get too much Disney as a child (although I remember being terrified during ‘Snow White’) but I at least knew the general stories. This collection contains stories from all over the world, and I was entranced by the Ananasi stories, and the other tales that were completely unfamiliar, as well as by the stories I thought were familiar, yet were different than I expected. I’ve found that I can read the same tales again and again, because different regions place a little different emphasis on the same tale.
Mythology Edith Hamilton
I’ve loved Mythology since third grade, when my reading book worked mythology into the stories. Because I so fondly remembered those stories, I signed up for Greek and Roman Mythology class in college, and this was one of the assigned books. It was fantastic. From there I moved on to Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Hesiod’s Theogony, and found that despite being “classics” they were actually quite readable. Reading mythology also re-awakened my love of folktales, and I’ve been buying folktale collections as I’ve come across them.
Tag five people to continue this meme:
erin
Tom
S Done!
Memer Done!
I’d really like to see what Solomon says, but he doesn’t read here, so this’ll just be a wish in vain.
If you’re curious as to why I haven’t been writing as much, it’s because I’ve been reading. A lot.
Tales of Mithgar (1994) Dennis McKiernan
Still looking for books to tide me over, I turned to another favorite, Dennis McKiernan. I picked up Tales of Mithgar because it’s a collection of short stories, and I love short stories.
Marx, Hitler, Mao, Kinsy, Dewey.
And John Stuart Mill gets an honorable mention!
Swordspoint (1987) Ellen Kushner
While waiting for the last book in Sean Russell’s ‘The Swan’s War’ to arrive, I decided to indluge in a book I’ve read fairly recently and loved.
This book is just as gorgeous as I remember. The writing is absolutely lovely, drawing my into the story from the first sentence. The story is excellent, but it’s the writing that I love so much.
And as a bonus, there are additional short stories in the back of the book, so not only do you get to read just a little bit more, the book gets to surprise you with its ending, as you don’t realize it’s something. (Which is one reason why I like books with previews in the back. Not because I read the previews–I don’t–but because they allow the end of the book to sneak up on me, and there’s something satisfying about that.
Now I just have to find something else to read while I’m waiting for ‘The Shadow Roads’
Moontide and Magic Rise: World Without End (1994) and Sea Without a Shore (1996) Sean Russell
Every time I read Sean Russell, I am always surprised at how good his books are. I pick them up knowing they are going to be good, but the pessimistic part of me always says, “they can’t be that good. Don’t get your hopes up!” only to be proven wrong.
Rotten Relations edited by Denise Little
I was really disappointed in this collection. I had, as the song goes, high hopes, but was, in the end, let down.
Read More about Rotten Relations
That makes 33 books so far this year. Not a lot for me, but not too bad considering the fact that I was supposed to be reading journal articles and other such papers for my class, and not reading books for fun.
Twice Upon A Time (1999) edited by Denise Little
Fairy tales seen from another perspective–the wife of the giant from the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. The hunter in the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The Wolf who appears in multiple tales.
This book is hit and miss. Some of the stories are excellent, others are so-so. The idea of retold fairy tales is an excellent one, unfortunately not all the stories in this collection were able to pull it off as well as it should be done.
Carpe Jugulum (1998) Terry Pratchett
I’m not quite sure what it is, but I found this book disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, there were places where I laughed out loud–it just seemed like those places were farther apart than usual.
Jingo (1997) Terry Pratchett
What surprised me most about this book was that it was written in 1997.
A new island has risen between Ankh Morpork and Klatch, and war seems to be the only way to determine who really owns the island.
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