Quick Reviews...

Up to category #4 now, Get Off Of My Lawn! - Children's and YA Lit. This is one of the few categories I have almost finished, but since it includes short children's books, that's not a surprise.

"Viola in Reel Life" by Adriana Trigiani

Already reviewed here in January. Here's the link.

"Persephone and the Pomegranate" by Kris Waldherr

Great re-telling of the classic myth, wonderful pictures included.

"The Book of Goddesses" by Kris Waldherr

For kids, but an interesting read for me. There were quite a few goddesses I had never heard of before. And, once again, with wonderful pictures.

"Briar Rose" by Jane Yolen

I read this for the group readalong on LibraryThing (or, LT). This book is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, involving the holocaust. I liked this book, but it was a little... I don't know, clunky? I realize it's for middle-grade readers, but usually I don't notice any disjointedness like I did here. I feel like she could have spent less time on the first two thirds, and more time on the last third - that's where I was really captivated by the story. I'm glad I read this book, and I'm glad it's at a new home courtesy of PaperbackSwap.

"Goodbye, Chunky Rice" by Craig Thompson

Unlike almost every other person out there, I didn't like this book. I like Craig's work, and the illustrations, but the overall "moral" or whatever didn't jump out at me, or do it for me, and the side characters just seemed like intentional "freaks" of society. Hm. Disappointed, but I like his other stuff much better.

"Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison

Cute, picked up because of talk on LT. It is like a young Bridget Jones, and it's fun to read a lot of the English slang I'm used to hearing on TV. Will read the rest of the series when I need a little mindless book. And I mean that in the nicest possible way, I swear.

"Beauty and the Beast" by Jean Marie Leprince de Beaumont

Another pick because of LT (Retrogirl85), and it was a nice change to the usual versions you find today. (Is this the original? Hm.) It took me back to reading children's books when I was little - it's an oversize format, and the illustrations are very 60's. Despite the fact that I was born in the late 70's, it seems like a lot of the books I owned were from the 60's when my parents were in their twenties. ??? Anyway, a nice version, and thoroughly enjoyable.

"The Vicar of Nibbleswicke" and "The Minpins" by Roald Dahl

I loved both of these books. Vicar was cute, a quirky story about a dyslexic priest, with wonderful illustrations by the fantastic Quentin Blake. Minpins was really wonderful, my favorite of the two. I used to imagine little people living in forests like this when I was small, though I'm almost positive I hadn't read this previously. Great illustrations by Patrick Benson, the kind you could lose yourself in the more you looked at them. Will try to find it second-hand somewhere.