Dewey's Reading Challenge
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The Road Home
Lev looked at the cloth. He was indifferent to it. He felt indifferent to all that was untrue. Behind him, somewhere, he could hear a tennis game start up and he envied the players. He thought how, in his life in England, he never ran anywhere anymore, but only stood at his sinks or crept into bus shelters or wandered the streets with slow steps, like the steps of a n old man. And this realization wounded him the more because he knew suddenly – as he stood and stared at the shining holly so ridiculously festooned- where he wanted to run to. He stood very still, gazing at the…
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How I Live Now
Daisy is a fifteen year-old anorexic from New York, sent to live in London with her aunt and cousins when her father and her pregnant step-mother decide they can’t deal with her and her disorder anymore. They are much more interested in the unborn child they have not yet met, than the very much alive and in-need-of-help-daughter they already have. Daisy arrives in London, met by her cousin Edmond, who is fourteen, smokes, and drives. She is impressed. Her cousins appear to be somewhat telepathic, though that isn’t the crux of the story. The crux of the story is that soon after she arrives, her aunt has to leave on…
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Stardust ~ Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess
(image found on Charles Vess’ site, here) Dewey from The Hidden Side of a Leaf was a huge Neil Gaiman fan, so when deciding which books to read for the Dewey’s Books Reading Challenge, I wanted to include at least one Gaiman book. I decided to read Stardust, and while I was at the library the other day picking up another book, I happened to see the version that was illustrated by Charles Vess. I didn’t even know there was such a version, but it looked like it might be fun, so I picked it up. Boy, I’m glad I did. The pictures are so beautiful, and really add to…
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We Are On Our Own
(Graphic found here) We Are On Our Own is Miriam Katin’s memoir of her survival during World War II. Told in graphic novel format, it is the story of Miriam and her mom, who are running from the Nazis in occupied Hungary. Miriam’s father is away at war when the orders come for her and her mother to list all of their belongings, and report for deportation. Rather than risk what the end of that trail might hold for them, Miriam’s mother purchases fake documents that identify her as a poor servant with an illegitimate child, and they travel into the countryside to hopefully wait out the war on a…
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The Elegance of the Hedgehog
(cover found here) I LOVED this book. Really, really loved it. So charming and quirky and wonderful, I suspect I’ll be buying it as a gift for a few people, and recommending it to many others. The Elegance of the Hedgehog is the story of Paloma and Renée, two inhabitants of an elegant apartment building in Paris. Paloma is the youngest daughter of a wealthy couple who inhabit one of the apartments, and Renée is the building concierge. Both Paloma and Renée hide their true selves from the world around them, fearing the consequences if people find out their secrets. And their secrets are the same: they are both fiercely…
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Dewey’s Book Challenge
I was looking around for a Classics Reading Challenge yesterday, hoping for some accountability that will get me to read a few classics, when I came across this excellent blog, A Novel Challenge, which lists a TON of current reading challenges. Really. A lot. If you’re looking for a chick lit challenge? She has links to one. Historical Fiction more your thing? She’s got that, too. Practically anything you’re looking for, it’s there. I found a classics challenge there, and as soon as I figure out what I’m going to read for it, I’ll put up a list. Anyway, one of the challenges I came across is the Dewey’s Books…