Completed Challenge: Non-Fiction Five 2009

I’ve completed my first challenge!  Actually, I suppose I half completed it, as I haven’t written all of my reviews yet (still trying to re-learn how to balance work with life with blogging – that month off really spoiled me!).  But the books are all read, so I’m going to consider it complete for now.

I didn’t have much trouble reading all of the books for the Non-Fiction Five 2009 challenge, especially since I had already personally committed to reading one non-fiction book a month this year.  Some of the books I loved more than others (which you’ll see when I post all of the reviews), but I enjoyed all of them.  There was a pretty wide variety – three memoirs (two on food, one on politics), a self-help, and a book about the science of sex (how do you classify that?).  Here’s my list:

1. My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud’homme
2. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
3. Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran by Azadah Moaveni
4. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg
5. Your Time-Starved Marriage by Les and Leslie Parrott

My favorite of the five was definitely A Homemade Life – but then, how could I not love something written by Molly Wizenberg?  My least favorite was Your Time-Starved Marriage, but I still felt the read was worthwhile.  Thanks to Trish at Trish’s Reading Nook for hosting this great challenge.

Stay tuned for my full reviews on the rest of these books!

The Most Magical Place on Earth

R’s one-week-long ’summer vacation’ happened to coincide with my last free week before returning to work, so we decided to take the opportunity to head down to Florida.  We had a wonderful time!  To avoid a completely unruly post, I’m just going to hit the highlights here.  But beware – even a highlights-only account of a week at Walt Disney World is bound to be lengthy! 

**  Listening to the first two Harry Potter audiobooks during our drive down and back.  They were just as good (and funny) as I’d heard!  More on this in posts to come.

**  Staying Saturday night with my sister and brother-in-law.  They recently moved to Florida for their new teaching jobs and it was fantastic to spend time with them and eat their yummy homemade pizza!

**  R and my brother-in-law having a boy’s night with football and rocket launches while I checked out the beautiful artwork around my sister’s apartment.  (She paints and he sculpts – both very well.  Between them, they have covered every wall and flat surface with incredible art.  If you want to see more of his work, check out his website: Thomas Manley.)

**  Getting ice cream with my aunt, uncle, and three cousins who also live down in Florida.

**  Staying at the festive Port Orleans-French Quarter resort at Disney.  The hotel was beautiful, the beignets weren’t bad, and we found some friendly critters on the property.

**  The Magic Kingdom!  Our favorite ride (largely because Space Mountain was closed) was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, although Pirates of the Caribbean with the new(er) addition of Cpt. Jack Sparrow was also worth two rides.  We got halfway up one of the big hills in Splash Mountain when they abruptly shut it down and evacuated us out of the ride.  We never made it back through, but we did get to view the inner workings of the Mountain.  Seeing plugs coming out of the backside of the Brer animals takes a bit of the magic out of things…  We also thought the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor was hilarious and we’re still not sure how they do it.  R made me stop spinning our tea cup in the Mad Tea Party because he was starting to get sick, something I will never, ever allow him to live down!

**  Epcot!  Soarin’ lived up to the hype – we both thought it was one of the best rides of all the parks.  If the wait hadn’t been the longest we saw in all of the parks, we definitely would have ridden it two or three times.  I loved the mini-aquarium at The Seas with Nimo and Friends and fell head over heels for the two manatees.  We had a great time walking around the World Showcase.  I was thrilled to find an entire Christmas tree full of German pickles – how many extra presents does that get me, Santa?  We caught one of the British Invasion performances and were pleased when they opened with I Want To Hold Your Hand, our wedding recessional song.  It started raining halfway through our World Showcase stroll, so we unfortunately saw some of the countries at only a fast walk.  (Even with rain coats and ponchos, we still managed to get pretty wet!)

**  Animal Kingdom!  This ended up being our favorite park and we spent a full day and a half wandering around.  All of the animals were wonderful; we loved the Kilimanjaro Safari and really enjoyed all of the walking paths.  We got tons of great animal pictures because they were surprisingly active.  Expedition Everest was thrilling, although my hands were definitely trembling afterward!

**  Spending a day learning that water parks are really more for kids than adults (Blizzard Beach), that I am a far better minature golfer than R (two holes in one!), and that virtual reality masks really hurt (DisneyQuest).  We loved CyberSpace Mountain at DisneyQuest, going out of our way to create the scariest rollercoaster we could ride in the simulator.

**  Eating tons.  Some of the meals were lackluster, but others really stood out.  A dear friend and Disney connoisseur recommended some great places to us.  As promised, Earl of Sandwich served some truly excellent sandwiches.  R ordered some fabulous Moroccan wine and mint tea (and watched some belly dancing) at Restaurant Marrakesh.  R taught me how to eat crab and lobster at Fulton’s Crab House – it was so fun!  Narcoossee’s helped us celebrate our anniversary (we celebrate around the 1/2 year mark, since Christmas and New Years get in the way of the actual date) with festive dessert plates.  At Boma, in the gorgeous Animal Kingdom Lodge, I added ‘fufu’ to my collection of best named foods I’ve ever eaten (a mashed potato dish, it joins ‘toot’, a mulberry drink).

**  Laughing at the hilarious things kids do and say.  When Crush at Turtle Talk asked the audience for the name of the bikini top hanging around his neck, a kid up front yelled, “It’s an over-the-shoulder boulder holder!”

**  Discovering that fall comes very early at the Magic Kingdom.

Despite coming home almost as tired as we were when we left, it was a wonderful week.  Just what we needed before jumping back into real life this past week!

Review – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Author: Stieg Larsson

Published: 2008

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Rating: 4 of 5

Much has been written about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, especially now that it is available in paperback and the follow-up book, The Girl Who Played with Fire has been released.  I’ll keep my synopsis short and sweet:  This book follows Mikael Blomkvist, a magazine editor, and Lisbeth Salander, a rough-around-the-edges private investigator, as they dig into a decades-old missing woman mystery and a corporate fraud scheme.

My mother-in-law first mentioned this book to me months ago.  I added the title to my list and then promptly forgot about it.  Soon though, I started seeing the book everywhere – in blog posts, on bestseller lists, in articles anticipating Fire’s release.  I bumped it to the top of my list and waited in a (long) line to get a copy from my library.

I now understand the buzz.  This book was pure page-turning entertainment – I felt physical pain whenever I had to set it down to do annoying things like eat, shower, and go to work.  Fortunately, it was also a fast read, so I was able to speed through it and return to normal life fairly quickly.

Set in Sweden, Dragon Tattoo introduced me to an area of the world I’ve never visited before in books.  One of my dearest friends grew up in Sweden and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the country (particularly the interesting food) while comparing it to the things she has shared about her childhood.  This book was certainly not a travelogue, but the occasional descriptions of the countryside and the small towns in which it was set made me want to make Sweden my next vacation destination.

In fact, this book was an absolute thriller, with some mystery thrown in for good measure.  I didn’t know much about the book when I started reading (having scrupulously avoided reviews to avoid spoilers), but the translated Swedish title should have tipped me off:  Men Who Hate Women.  Normally, I don’t do well with books containing lots of violence or brutality, especially against women.  To be honest, there were parts that were difficult for me to read (or even skim) due to the graphic descriptions.  But I was so gripped by the plot that I was able to push through those sections and still enjoy the book.

If you haven’t read this one yet, I would definitely recommend it with one caveat:  Please start it early in a weekend.  I’d hate for you to have to use a sick day at work so you can stay home to finish it!  Myself, I’m looking forward to reading Fire.  While I’m waiting in my second library line to get it (139 people long!), I’ll keep myself occupied by deciding where to put the Dragon Tattoo tattoo that I won from Books on the Nightstand!

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Don’t take my word for it.  Check out what others are saying about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:

1 More Chapter – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

All About {n} – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Book Lady’s Blog – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Books on the Nightstand – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — what are you waiting for?

Literary License -The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (a review)

The Literate Housewife Review – #186 ~ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Old Musty Books – Stieg Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

S. Krishna’s Books – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson

Review – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Author: Sherman Alexie

Published: 2007

Genre: Young Adult

Rating: 4 of 5

After some prompting from a teacher, Arnold Spirit, Jr. decides to leave his reservation’s high school and enroll in the neighboring community’s all-white high school.  All he really wanted was a better education, but what he gets is a sense of living in two worlds while belonging to none.  His fellow Native Americans, including his best and only friend, view his transfer as a rejection and betrayal.  His new white classmates are racist and largely ignore him.  Through it all, Junior illustrates his account of the school year with hilarious cartoons and a candid narrative.

When I read Rebecca’s review of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on her blog, The Book Lady’s Blog, I immediately added it to my ever-growing list.  It sounded edgy, interesting, and unlike anything I’ve read recently.  I wasn’t disappointed!

Despite the misleadingly long title, Sherman Alexie’s writing is tight, concise, and perfectly balanced in youthfulness and emotion.  As a narrator, Junior was funny and endearing.  I laughed aloud multiple times, particularly at his wry, self-deprecating asides.  This book really did read like the journal of an intelligent teenager who is just trying to figure out where he fits in the world.

It feels almost strange to write about how funny I found this book given how sad it was.  Several members of Junior’s family are serious alcoholics and their resulting poverty is heartrending.  There are times when Junior is forced to walk and hitchhike the twenty-some miles to and from school because his family doesn’t have money for gas.  During the darkest part of the book, several terrible tragedies hit Junior’s family.  Racism – by both the whites and the Native Americans – controls many of the characters and Junior bears the brunt of much hate.

There is no sugarcoating in this book.  It is painfully honest and has even managed to land itself on some banned books lists (check out Rebecca’s post for the excerpt that is primarily responsible for this honor).  But the good-natured attitude and wry commentary that accompanies all the bluntness makes it an insightful and worthwhile read.

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Don’t take my word for it.  Check out what others are saying about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian:

The Book Lady’s Blog – Book Chat: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Fizzy Thoughts – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Jessecreation’s Weblog – STD Conferences and YA Lit

New York Times – Off the Rez

Underage Reading – Book vs. Book: Battle of the kids battling racist humiliation and not quite winning

On the road again

I’ve been remiss in my blogging and will continue to be for the next several days.  Things have been pretty crazy around here lately.  Last week was my birthday (!) and the week and this weekend were packed with all sorts of lovely birthday celebrations and surprises.  I won’t go into all of the details, but here are some highlights:  Three chocolate cakes.  Romantic candlelight dinner complete with our fine china and crystal.  Fool mudammas and muhammara at Mezza Bistro.  Hummas, pacha rice, and veggie burgers at my Mom’s.  Thoughtful and generous gifts from friends and family – I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the love!

In addition, last week was my final week at my job.  To make a (very) long story short, I’ll just say that I knew this was coming and God came through in a BIG way with another fantastic job starting next month.  In the meantime, I have the whole month of August to read and play!  I’m kicking the celebration off with the second annual girl’s trip with my Mom and sister.  We leave today, but I’ll be back soon with lots of book reviews that are waiting to be completed.

I need to go finish packing, but first let me leave you with two exciting book blogging news items.

The Second Annual Book Blogger Appreciation Week, put together by My Friend Amy, is Sept. 14-18th.  As I’m still new to this book blogging thing, I’m really excited to see what this is all about!  Here are the details:

Last year over 400 blogs came together to celebrate the art of book blogging during the first ever Book Blogger Appreciation Week!  I am so pleased to announce that the second annual Book Blogger Appreciation Week will be taking place September 14-18.

WHO Anyone who blogs about books is invited to participate.  In fact, we want everyone who blogs about books and reading to be a part of this week!
WHAT A week where we come together,  celebrate the contribution and hard work of book bloggers in promoting a culture of literacy, connecting readers to books and authors, and recognizing the best among us with the Second Annual BBAW Awards.  There will be special guest posts, daily blogging themes, and giveaways.
WHEN September 14-18, 2009
WHERE Here at the new Book Blogger Appreciation Week Blog!  (Please note that this year there are three separate blogs and feeds—one for the main event, one for giveaways, and one for awards.)
WHY Because books matter.  In a world full of options, the people talking about books pour hard work, time, energy, and money into creating a community around the written word.  I, Amy, the founder of Book Blogger Appreciation Week love this community of bloggers and want to shower my appreciation on you!

WANT TO PARTICIPATE?
Please help us spread the word about Book Blogger Appreciation Week by posting about it on your blog, stumbling this post, twittering about it, and telling everyone you know that it’s time to have a party and celebrate book bloggers!

Please register by filling out the registration form! Registering ensures your inclusion in the BBAW 09 Database of Book Bloggers and enters you into the drawing for the BBAW 09 Grand Prize!

AWARDS
BBAW Award Nominations open July 15 on the BBAW Awards Blog.

Secondly, I’m joining another challenge.  I probably shouldn’t, since I already have enough challenges going to keep me busy, but I just couldn’t resist the Harry Potter Reading Challenge being hosted by Galley Smith.  The challenge is to read or listen to all seven Harry Potter books between August 1, 2009 and July 31, 2010.  R and I were already planning on listening to several during our upcoming road trip and I’ve been wanting to re-read the series, so I’m very excited about this challenge.

Alright.  Let the girl’s trip begin!

Review – Zorro

Title: Zorro (audiobook)

Author: Isabel Allende

Published: 2005

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 of 5

Isabel Allende’s Zorro could have been titled The Making of Zorro.  Rather than repeating the already-legendary exploits of Zorro, Allende tells the creative and captivating story of how Diego de la Vega became the Zorro we recognize from TV, movies, and books.

The story begins before Diego’s birth in Spanish California and travels to Spain, the Caribbean, and New Orleans as Diego grows and develops his swordsmanship and sense of right and wrong.  Until this book, my exposure to the Zorro legend was limited to the Antonio Banderas films.  Even with that limited background, I was able to see how carefully Allende crafted Diego’s childhood to draw direct links to already-established aspects of his adult career.

This was a very plot-driven book, with adventures and challenges moving the characters and story along.  There is something here for everyone – pirates, warfare, religious conflict, damsels in distress, prison breaks, high seas adventures, disguises, duels, gypsies, and even Napoleon.  It sounds frenetic – and maybe it was – but it kept my full attention through the very last word.

Diego’s development as a champion for social justice raised some interesting themes along the way, but Allende kept even those topics quite light.  I would definitely recommend this as a fun and attention-grabbing book.

I would also recommend the audiobook, especially for a road trip.  A good portion of the book revolves around Diego’s travels, so it would be a perfect compliment to a long car ride.  The narrator, Blair Brown, is one of my favorites and she did an excellent job with this novel.

~~~~~

Don’t take my word for it.  Check out what others are saying about Zorro:

Blogcritics – Book Review: Isabel Allende’s Zorro

Brie – Isabelle Allende’s El Zorro: A Book Review

The Guardian – Behind the Mask

The Independent – Zorro: the Novel, by Isabel Allende, trans Margaret Sayers Peden

MostlyFiction Book Reviews – “Zorro”

NPR – Zorro Comes to Life in Allende’s Latest

Book Club Review – The Book Thief

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Published: 2005

Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Rating: 5 of 5 (re-read)

The Book Thief is, hands down, one of my favorite reads.  Ever.  I have been a Book Thief evangelist for the past year, trying to tell everyone I know that they must drop everything and go read it immediately.  Either my book club took pity on me or my sales tactics are improving, because they chose it as our July book.

I imagine most people have already at least seen this book around – for goodness sake, there was a full-page New York Times ad for it several months ago.  I won’t give a full synopsis here, but suffice it to say:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things:

A girl

Some words

An accordionist

Some fanatical Germans

A Jewish fist fighter

And quite a lot of thievery.

All the women in the book group really enjoyed this book.  Each person admitted to crying (many to sobbing), and all had much to say about the book and its characters, themes, messages, and narrator (Death was very popular amongst us).  It was an excellent discussion – if you are looking for your next book club pick, we highly recommend this one!

To avoid spoilers, I’m not going to give too many specifics about what we discussed.  I will note that we launched into a very interesting side conversation about how culpable the German citizens were for the horror done in their own backyard.  Things got slightly heated over this issue, with some people wondering if living in post-World War I Germany was like being an unsuspecting lobster in slowly heating water.  Others argued that enough people knew what was happening early enough to put a stop to things.  Obviously, this is a question that will never be satisfactorily answered.  Along those lines, though, when asked if Hans Hubermann and the other characters were culpable, people were a lot less willing to answer affirmatively.

Perhaps Markus Zusak was so successful with this book because he was able to place the recognizable face of humanity into a truly heinous period in our history.

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Don’t take my word for it.  Check out what others are saying about The Book Thief:

5 Minutes for Books – The Book Thief

At Home with Books – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – Review

The Book Lady’s Blog – The Book Lady and The Book Thief

Devourer of Books – The Book Thief – Book Review

Fizzy Thoughts – Days of Remembrance and The Book Thief

The New York Times – Stealing to Settle a Score with Life

Out of the Blue – Book Review: The Book Thief

Rhapsody in Books – Sunday Salon – Review of “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak

USA Today – ‘The Book Thief’ rises above horrors of war

It’s the Small Things…

My sister once told me that she keeps a journal listing three things for which she was thankful from each day.  I’ve never had the discipline to do this, but I admire her ability to focus on the positive.  In an effort to emulate her (see – big sisters can copy little sisters sometimes!), I thought I would list some things from the past several days that have brought me joy and excitement.

• My copy of Lipstick Jihad arrived in the mail on Thursday.  This was a contest win from Teresa at Shelf Love.  I’ve had this book on my list for some time and I can’t wait to read it.

• R and I went to a Carbon Leaf concert on Friday night.  This is one of R’s favorite bands, and I’ve happily tagged along to their shows for as long as we’ve been together.  They put on a great show and I can honestly say that their lead singer has my favorite ‘lead singer voice.’

• I made a delicious Cherry and Chocolate Stracciatella Frozen Yogurt.  My fingers are still stained from pitting the cherries, but it was totally worth it.
• R and I had Sunday Supper at Restaurant Eugene.  We wanted something celebratory and RE delivered!  The grits with my entree were so good, I was nearly inspired to turn in my Yankee Membership Card and declare myself a born-again Southerner.  Nearly.
• I found out that I won a contest on More Than Burnt Toast, which means I get to try three yummy sounding spice mixes from Made With Love Delectable Edibles.  I’ll definitely be posting the results of these spice tastings!
• Lunch today was a group outing with the entire legal department.  It really was lovely to have lunch with everyone, especially as I’m nearing the end of my time with them.

• Two books were waiting for me when I got home tonight!  I received Interpreter of Maladies – one of my all-time favorite books – through Swaptree.

• I also (finally) got a copy of The Last Queen using an Amazon gift certificate.
• After a nearly two-month blogging hiatus, one of my favorite bloggers ever is back!  I’m slightly embarrassed by how excited I was to see Orangette’s name back in my Reader.  And I’m thrilled that I don’t have to keep going back to her old Bon Appetit articles for a bit of her writing.  (Although her blueberry scones from the July issue were well worth the re-read – these were delicious and easy.  Make them.  Trust me.)

• Finally, Avis at she reads and reads awarded me the Proximidade Award.  Thanks so much!!  This is my first ever blogging award, and I’m thrilled about what it stands for:  “This award invests and believes in proximity—nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award.”  I haven’t had a chance yet to think about who to nominate in turn, but I will do so soon!

I just realized that everything here is somehow connected to food or books.  Oh my.  I suppose that says a lot about me!

Review – Drood

Title: Drood

Author: Dan Simmons

Published: 2009

Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction

Rating: 2 of 5

I feel I should begin this post with a caveat.  Anyone who knows my reading habits well knows that I am a very serious Charles Dickens fan.  As far as I’m concerned, he is the standard to which all other authors are compared.  One of my best days while studying in London was the day I visited his house (now a museum) and spent the afternoon gaping at his belongings.  So.  Take this under advisement when considering my thoughts about Drood.

Several months ago, I read an article about two new books that attempted to address the many lingering questions behind Dickens’ unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  Intrigued, I decided to re-read The Mystery of Edwin Drood and then read the new books to see how they did in solving the real mystery of Edwin Drood.

Drood is narrated by Wilkie Collins (of The Woman in White fame), Dickens’ crony and relative by marriage.  At its core, Drood is a historical thriller set in the last five years of Dickens’ life.  Collins reveals the mysterious character of Drood who haunts Dickens and influences his personal and career decisions.  Full of jealousy and opium, slums and literature, it becomes a wild ride through London’s forgotten tunnels and a bizarre, occultish underworld.

I rated the first book, The Last Dickens, a 1.5 of 5 because the story was thin and the writing needed some serious editing help.  I’m giving Drood slightly more, only because the writing was actually quite well done.  The story and the characters, however, made me want to abandon the book about 300 pages into the tome.  (Yes, tome.  This book was 777 pages long – about 400 pages too many.)

This book should have been titled ‘Collins,’ because it was almost entirely about him, his struggles with opium addiction, and his own growing obsession with Drood and Dickens.  Dickens himself flits in and out of the story and Drood…  Well, Drood becomes a primary character in several occult-centered scenes that I found deeply disturbing and overly done.  I could go on about everything I disliked about this book, but I’ll keep this short:

It was unnecessarily long.  The story repeatedly started and sputtered out for the first 400 pages.  Many of the plot elements were contrived and ridiculous to the point of outright laughter.  And most importantly – the ending, which was the sole chance the book had at redeeming itself, was so dissatisfying that I slammed my book shut in anger.

I imagine that fans of the thriller genre would really enjoy this book.  And people who have less emotional attachment might not feel as cheated as I did by this book.  But for me, I still consider the mystery of Edwin Drood to be fixedly unsolved.

~~~~~

Don’t take my word for it.  Check out what others are saying about Drood:

Allison’s Attic – “DROOD” on the Early Bird Blog Tour

Blacklin’s Reading Room Reviews & More – My Dear Wilkie

Book Chatter and Other Stuff – Review: Drood

Booking Mama – Review: DROOD & Giveaway (includes a clip of Simmons reading from the book)

Bookish Ruth – Book Review: Drood by Dan Simmons

Bookpage – Simmons imagines the spark behind Dickens’ unfinished work

Book Reviews by Bobbie – Book Review of ‘Drood: A Novel (ARC)’

A Bookworm’s World – Drood – Dan Simmons

A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore – Review: Drood, by Dan Simmons

Heidenkind’s Hideaway – Drood

The Independent – Drood, by Dan Simmons & The Last Dickens, by Matthew Pearl

Jenn’s Bookshelf – Review, Giveaway & Blog Tour-Drood, by Dan Simmons

LA Times – ‘Drood’ by Dan Simmons and ‘The Last Dickens’ by Matthew Pearl

My Friend Amy – Blog Tour: Drood by Dan Simmons and a Giveaway! (complete with a personal sketch from Simmons himself)

Old Musty Books – Dan Simmons: Drood A Novel

Perry Web – Drood

The Tome Traveller’s Weblog – Review AND Giveaway: Drood by Dan Simmons

The Washington Post – A Long-Winded Rival to Dickens

We Be Reading – Early Review: Drood

Write for a Reader – Review: Drood

Review – The 13 Clocks

Title: The 13 Clocks

Author: James Thurber

Published: 1950

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Rating: 3 of 5

The 13 Clocks is a fairy tale-like story about an evil and cold Duke, his captive and beautiful niece-Princess, and the mysterious stranger who seeks to marry her.  To free the Princess, the stranger must complete an impossible task in an impossible amount of time.

I became aware of this book through an NPR story about the reprinting of this classic children’s tale.  Intrigued by Neil Gaiman’s forward claiming it to be “probably the best book in the world,” I picked it up at my library.

Though I wouldn’t go as far as Gaiman’s claim, I can say that this book was entertaining.  It was a very fast and quirky read, full of jabs at fairy tale cliches and clever word usage.  I read an older edition of the book and found that its whimsical illustrations added to my enjoyment of the story.  I can understand how this book was likely a progenitor to many of the modern fantasy novels I’ve enjoyed.  Maybe part of its charm lies in its concise simplicity, but ultimately, it wasn’t long enough or interesting enough to bring me under its spell.

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Don’t take my word for it.  Check out what others are saying about The 13 Clocks:

Eyrie – The 13 Clocks

LA Times – Thurber’s world of wonders

The New York Review of Books – The 13 Clocks

NPR – Beloved Children’s Book ‘Thirteen Clocks’ is Back

Things Mean a Lot – The 13 Clocks by James Thurber