I know I’ve been really sporadic around here, but you can blame my internet being dead. Thank goodness for libraries with wifi so I can post this. 😛
So I didn’t read a lot this month again… but what I did read was a lot of gloriously hilarious whimsical fantasy and it was simply fabulous! 🙂
1. Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones
…Um, I don’t think this even needs to be elaborated on, since everyone should know by now that it’s like my favorite book ever. (Ties with LotR but I admittedly read Howl more often because it’s small.) IT IS MY FAAAAVORITE. *dances in happiness* Howl is the absolute best and I love the whole book and it’s hilarious and perfect. ❤ I take any excuse to reread it, and this time my excuse was reading it aloud to my younger siblings. So I got to do all the voices. It. Was. Stupendous. (THIS BOOOOK. <3)
2. Of Mice and Magic – Ursula Vernon
Well, THAT was fun and hilarious. XD Twelve dancing mouse princesses and a warrior-princess hamster — what could be more fun? For a younger audience, but funny enough I didn’t mind. Great retelling, cute illustrations, very fun quick read. 🙂 Much humor. I approve. *nod* (Also, funny story about how I happened to read this: I had been recommended it by a Goodreads friend because of the twelve dancing princesses aspect… and then I happened to be waiting around at a Barnes & Noble all day one day, so when I found it I actually sat down and read the whole thing while I was there. XD It was kind of great.)
3. Paper Crowns – Mirriam Neal
ASLKDJFSLKDJFLSDKLSKDJF THIS BOOOOOOOOOOOK!!! Okay, so I beta read this when it was being written a couple years back and ADORED it so I was super super super ecstatic when it got published this year! I’ve literally been waiting for this to be published since I read the first chapter. IT’S A DREAM COME TRUE. Hopefully you can understand how good it is when I say I love it nearly as much as Howl’s Moving Castle which I just squealed about. I just devoured my signed copy and loved it all over again and everyone in the world must read it because I love it and the characters (who are a mess but glorious) SO SO MUCH. ❤ (Seriously though, Hal and Azrael and all the others. THEY ARE THE MOST WONDERFUL OF EVER.) Also the snark and banter and humor and character interactions are absolutely MARVELOUS. Plus it’s a lovely fantasy adventure. Basically what is not to love?? Answer: nothing. (Except some typos. But I hear those are being fixed, so.) It’s one of my favorite books of EVER. YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE, EVERYONE! I CANNOT RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH. ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
4. The Merlin Conspiracy – Diana Wynne Jones
This was the “review” I posted on Goodreads: “YES TO THIS BOOK! ❤ I need an elephant. AN ELEPHANT. Also Romanov. Yesssss. ACK DIANA WYNNE JONES BOOKS ARE LIFE I TELL YOU. (I may coherent a review someday.) ROMANOV.” Um… so, that was incoherent. XD But in my defense it was very enjoyable despite my having the flu when I read it. I also very much want to find somebody who’s read it to flail with because like nobody’s read it and a lot of Goodreads reviews seem to think it’s just “okay” so I’m wondering WHERE ARE THE FANS OF THIS BOOK?? I NEED YOU. WE MUST TALK. Anyways, it’s the sequel to Deep Secret, and it was totally weird but I enjoyed it a lot. It’s actually not super Arthurian, despite the title. There’s a hint or two, but that’s it. But it’s largely set in an alternate Britain (I wanna go to Wales please and thank you) and it has this elephant (not in Britain) who is named Mini and is so sweeeeet (I NEED AN ELEPHANT I TELL YOU) and a character named Romanov who is amazing. Also it was the perfect thing to read when I had the flu because one of the characters had it too. XD …Actually, I’m almost starting to wonder if I hallucinated the whole thing because it WAS rather a weird book and it went back to the library so I have no proof it happened… >.> I should write a review for it just because. *adds to long list of things to review when I have time/inspiration/internet which is a difficult combination to find these days*
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So, not very many, but I was also busy, and I have been beta-reading parts of lovely books by lovely friends. I also beta-read all of The Dead Boy and the Paper Cut by Cait @ Paper Fury (which is up on Wattpad.com) and oh my goodness, the FEEEEEEELS. *collapses* It was also humorous and snarky but also scary and dark AND I DIDN’T NEED MY HEART ANYWAY. *cough* Anyways, in case it was a question (which it wasn’t) Cait is a genius writer who needs to be published, since she can make me love a book I would normally never read (i.e., a YA contemporary paranormal story about a ghost, which mangled my feels… and I don’t even mind. This is rare.).
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But yeah, two Diana Wynne Jones books including a reread of my fave, plus a Diana-Wynne-Jones-esque whimsical fantasy tale with my FAVORITE characters/humor/banter/snark by one of my favorite authors of EVER (a.k.a. Mirriam the Neal herself) and then a small fun retelling of my favorite fairytale (plus a snarky ghost who should totally be published. Ahem.). How about an awesome month of reading, folks?? Yessss. I’m a happy reader. ^_^
So how about you, readers all? Have you read any of these? (I HIGHLY recommend you read Howl’s Moving Castle and Paper Crowns if you haven’t because they’re some of my SUPER top favorites! <3) What’s your favorite thing you read in May?
Dream away in those pages . . .
The Page Dreamer (Deborah O'Carroll) 