A Dog's Life

My Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Paperback given to me for my birthday.
Dates of Reading: May 5, 2015-May 6, 2015.
Author: Peter Mayle
Publication Year: 1995
Recommended to: Anyone who loves funny books. Specifically, if you loved Catch-22 but weren't a huge fan of its cynicism, this is the read for you. Also, those who like dog books but want to avoid inevitable doggy death... pick it up.
Quotes: So many good ones.
Movie: Nope.

Wikipedia Link: N/A
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Dogs-Life-Peter-Mayle/dp/0679762671/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431667899&sr=1-2&keywords=a+dog%27s+life

My View: Super funny, very endearing. Heartwarming and unique. The sympathy Mayle displays for his canine companion is admirable not only humanely, but also in the skill it helps him to exhibit as a writer. Few others have put themselves in the shoes (or collar) of such a very different creature and created such a likable, believable, fully fleshed character. Few can be this connected even with human characters, let alone dogs.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac


Bibliography:
Mayle, Peter. A Dog's Life. New York: Knopf, 1995. Print.

Prince Caspian

My Rating: ★★★★

Method of Reading: Target's seven-book paperback.
Dates of Reading: January 5, 2015-January 10, 2015
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1951
Recommended to: People who've read this far.
Quotes:
"'That's the worst of girls... They never carry a map in their heads.'
   'That's because our heads have something inside them,' said Lucy" (370).
"Oh Aslan... How could I - I couldn't have left the others and come to you alone... oh well, I suppose I could. Yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, I know, not if I was with you" (380).
"We don't know when he will act. In his time, no doubt, not ours. In the meantime he would like us to do what we can on our own" (397).
"'You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,' said Aslan. 'And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content" (416).
Movie: Yes'm in 2008.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Caspian
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/hardcover/prince-caspian/9780060234836

My View: So beautiful, once again. Not as favored as The Horse and His Boy, but great nonetheless. My favorite symbolism being the well water turned to wine.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 311-418. Print.

The Horse and His Boy

My Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Target's seven-book paperback.
Dates of Reading: December 26, 2014-January 5, 2015
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1954
Recommended to: The people who have read up to this point.
Quotes: 
"'They'd kill me' ... He had, you see, no idea of how noble and free-born people behave" (239).
"...one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have lost the power of forcing yourself" (298).
"And certainly both Horses were doing, if not all they could; all they thought they could, which is not quite the same thing" (270).
"He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to do another and harder and better one" (272).
"But as long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse" (275).
"I was the lion" (281).
"...the smaller woodland people were safe and happy that they were getting a little careless" (285).
"Do not dare not to dare" (299).
Movie: Walden Media, which made 3 Narnia movies already, has the option for this movie as well... it hasn't made a move yet.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horse_and_His_Boy
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/ebook/the-horse-and-his-boy/9780061974137

My View: I love the fast style of the story, the characters, and the landscape created. This has been my favorite Narnia book so far although I can't definitively figure out why... perhaps it was thanks to the relatively minimal military action. Plus, I haven't enjoyed what is essentially a roadtrip story this much since Rules of the Road.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 199-310. Print.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

My Rating: ★★★★

Method of Reading: Target's seven-book paperback.
Dates of Reading: October 25, 2014-December 24, 2014
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1950
Recommended to: Everyone who read The Magician's Nephew.
Quotes:
"People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time" (168).
"'Please - Aslan,' said Lucy, 'can anything be done to save Edmund?'
   'All shall be done,' said Aslan. 'But it may be harder than you think'" (169).
"...never forget to wipe your sword" (171).
"Did you hear what he said? Us Lions. That means him and me. Us Lions" (190).
"'Does he know,' whispered Lucy to Susan, 'what Aslan did for him?'
   ...'Oh, surely not,' said Susan. "It would be too awful for him. Think how you'd feel if you were he.'
   'All the same I think he ought to know,' said Lucy" (193).
"One day you'll see him and another you won't.... He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion" (194).
Movie: Yessir.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion,_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/ebook/the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe/9780061974151

My View: A story so gorgeously written that the movie visuals (I've seen the film at least two or three times) never even popped into my head... Filled with even more beautiful, subtle, and smoothly integrated allegory (regardless of whether CS Lewis would acknowledge it as such), like when Susan and Lucy are looking for Aslan in the wood (the women searching for Jesus's body).

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 107-197. Print.

The Idiot

My Rating: ★★★

Method of Reading: Personally owned paperback novel 
Dates of Reading: August 10, 2014-January 5, 2015
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Publication Year: 1869
Recommended to: Dostoevsky fans.
Quotes: 
Movie: A few, lots of languages.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idiot
Link: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/idiot/

My View: I greatly enjoyed this, although not as much as I did Brothers K. The characters seemed slightly more predictable and the plot less engaging. Perhaps Dostoevsky is better at writing less sophisticated characters which made me enjoy the Brothers & Co. better.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:

• Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Idiot. New York: Modern Library, 1962. Print.

Nine Stories

My Rating: ★★★★

Method of Reading: Personally owned paperback book 
Dates of Reading: December 31, 2014-April 3, 2015
Author: J.D. Salinger
Publication Year: 1953
Recommended to: College readers or busy workpeople who need something they can read in bits and pieces.
Quotes: 
Movie: A smattering.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Stories_%28Salinger%29
Link: http://www.gradesaver.com/nine-stories

My View: Although I am not usually a short story fan, I really appreciated these. I wasn't a huge fan of quite everything, but I loved the continuity and development of themes (particularly innocence/childhood and the ill and positive effects of losing them, of loneliness, of narcissism...). Perhaps my favorite story was "To Esme--with Love and Squalor," which I understand is a popular choice. I also quite liked "Teddy" and "Just Before the War with the Eskimos." "Down at the Dinghy" was a close second to "Esme," though.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:

• Salinger, J.D. Nine Stories. Boston: Little, Brown, 1991. Print.

"TKAM" Sequel?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/harper-lee-novel_n_6603994.html

What you see above is a link to a news article reporting that 88-year-old Harper Lee, the "one-hit wonder" author of To Kill a Mockingbird has rediscovered a sequel she wrote to Scout's story soon after TKAM was published; she has now decided to release the book, titled Go Set a Watchman in July. TKAM is not merely a literary classic, it is also one of my favorite books (a rare 5-star review), an uncommonly unpatronizing tale of innocence at every age. I am very excited to know that Harper Lee will be back on the shelves of my local bookstore again and look eagerly toward July 14!