Don't Panic - Megan's BookLikes

This was a really good YA book - I think it'd be great for nerdy or outcast kids since the protagonist doesn't feel he really fits in with anyone. It's about a child prodigy who grows up (I think he's currently 17) and is terrified that he's going to follow the usual path for child prodigies and become (gasp) normal and unremarkable. He works tirelessly to study and try to better himself and be above the norm. Meanwhile he has become somewhat obsessed with girls named Katherine (for one, their name anagrams beautifully, and two, that was his first girlfriend's name). He keeps getting dumped by them though - nineteen times now to be exact - so he decides to make a theorem on the predictability of his Katherines and the likelihood of who will be the Dumped and the Dumper in any relationship. It was an interesting concept to read about and I liked the characters for the most part, but I think I need a little break from YA books so that I can better enjoy my next one. Time for some grown-up reading.

I really enjoyed this up until I was about halfway or 2/3 finished and then I just really wanted everything to start getting wrapped up and just finish already. This book is super long for a YA book, especially when most of the books's content is a crazy hallucination/dream. I'm fine with reading something that's all "bizarro" or something with little hints of outrageousness or the absurd throughout, but it's more of an all-or-nothing type deal for me - otherwise it feels sort of half-assed. So this book was a bit disappointing in that aspect. It was refreshingly original in its characters though. Cameron is a lazy pot-smoking teenager who discovers he has mad cow disease, Gonzo is a Spanish-speaking dwarf obsessed with the idea that he's dying, and Balder is a Norse god trapped in the body of a lawn gnome. It was interesting overall and I enjoyed Libba Bray's writing and humor (though not as much as [book: Beauty Queens]), but it was just way too dragged-out and didn't have the strong finish I was expecting.

Okay, so I finished this in practically two days after like a month of absolutely no time for reading, so that should tell you something about how good it was (or at least how much it sucks you into the story). I had a hunch about how it would end (and I was almost completely right) but I just had to know what happened - would it end the same way as An Imperial Affliction? (I was gonna be so pissed if it did) I was also expecting to cry but sadly did not; there was just a wee bit of puddling in my eyeballs. I was admittedly slightly distracted by dogs begging for pets with sad eyes, but anyway, I digress.

The Fault in Our Stars is about this girl named Hazel who has greatly beaten her odds by surviving Stage IV thyroid cancer to the age of sixteen with the help of a new miracle drug called Phalanxifor. At a support group meeting she meets dreamboat Augustus Waters, who has survived osteosarcoma after the amputation of his leg. They are both intelligent, profound, sharp-witted teenagers with philosophical musings abounding between the pair of them. Usually in books and movies, precocious, beyond-his/her-years children annoy the hell out of me. The only other book I can think of where this didn't bother me is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which I loved (although I caught a snippet of the movie version where Oskar was having a little monologue and I had to change the channel, so maybe I can only handle these children in the constructs of my own mind and not in real life or cinema). So the language thing took some getting used to, but after a while it didn't bother me anymore. These kids have been at death's doorstep for a while and I can understand how that would make them more poetic and deep. Overall, I thought it was a lovely and moving love story and I really enjoyed John Green's writing and sense of humor. I'm looking forward to reading more from him and have already requested Looking for Alaska from my library. Hopefully that'll be more good stuff.

Some pretty funny stuff - it made me "LOL" several times. It was especially refreshing since I was working so many overtime hours at a conference this week and really needed some mental breaks to just relax a bit. I hadn't heard of the website www.whenparentstext.com before reading this, but I'll definitely start checking it periodically when I want a laugh. It sounds like it's similar to www.autocorrectfail.org, www.lamebook.com, etc. It's definitely an interesting and pertinent topic for today's times - parents are trying their damnedest to keep up and in touch with their kids these days as everything (especially communication) shifts more and more towards the digital world. I've personally had to walk my parents through how to text (those first few laboriously typed out texts were priceless, let me tell you) and how to join and use facebook (and I could so commiserate with the texts in this book about the "oh god" moments when their parents finally did figure out how to friend request them on facebook and start to leave lovely little comments on their pictures and walls). It's nice to have another method of keeping in touch with our parents, but you have to admit, no matter how hard they try they just can't quite do it as naturally as our generations. But that's another reason we love them so much - they're so quirky and goofy you can't help but love them. This book shines a light on the hilarious and very relatable adventures of parents and old(er) people tackling texting and just overall getting "with it" (the times, man, the times).

Gemma is a 16-yr-old English schoolgirl who is stolen away from her family at a Bangkok airport by 20-something Ty, a ruggedly handsome stranger who drugs Gemma's drink. He takes her to a remote location in the vast, beautiful, yet dangerous outback of Australia. Ty has been watching Gemma for years and has worked hard to create a life for the two of them out in the middle of nowhere. Ty hopes that Gemma will eventually love him as much as he loves her, but if she does, is it truly love or just Stockholm syndrome? And can Gemma escape not only Ty but the deadly wilderness of Australia before that can happen?

This was an extremely interesting book and I stayed up late a couple of nights just to finish it. I enjoyed reading about the Australian landscape and wildlife (which I'm not familiar with at all) and it made me want to learn more about it and go there someday so I can see it all for myself (except for the scary snakes). The relationship between Gemma and Ty was also fascinating since I hadn't really read about Stockholm syndrome before. The two of them are so real as characters that I never doubted their authenticity. A lot of times in YA fiction, even the best characters can have some stereotypical behavior or unexpected twists thrown into their personalities just to move the story along or create some drama. Not so in this book. Ty was scary, intriguing, broken, sexy, and insane all at once and yet he never seemed fake. Same thing for Gemma - she lacked the strength to put up much of a fight and her emotions were a whirlwind, but she always had hope and realized that if she lost that it was the end. They were human and it really made me root for both of them, even though Ty was supposed to be the bad guy.

Awesome book and an original story. I'd highly recommend it to fans of YA fiction, people interested in Australia, and those who want to take an intimate and close-up look at Stockholm syndrome. I'd definitely read more of Lucy Christopher's work - she has a unique and interesting point of view and can really bring scenes and landscapes alive for readers. If anyone can recommend some more books to me about Stockholm syndrome, I'd be curious to check them out.

I got this book from my library's last used book sale for $.50 (hey, when did they get rid of the cent symbol from keyboards?). I had never heard of the book or the author but I figured I love historical fiction and I love books about art so this was probably a winner. And turns out, I was right. I really enjoyed this and will be checking out other books written by Susan Vreeland. I googled the book after I finished it and it turns out there was a movie made of it back in the day starring Glenn Close called "Brush with Fate." So I also need to check and see if Netflix has that because I was thinking while reading that this would make a really cool movie.

The book is about a [fictional] Vermeer painting and its journey through time (from its manifestation as oil paint on canvas to the home of its current possessor) and the hands it passed through and affected along the way. It starts from present time and goes back, with each chapter seen through the perspective of each of its owners, all the way back to the painting's subject, a young girl who gazes longingly out a window. Vreeland is wonderful with her descriptions, especially those of the actual painting and how the light reflects off of different pieces in the work. Vermeer was known for his masterful techniques and talent for painting light and the imagined painting absolutely comes to life the further you read. It makes you want to immediately go to a museum and study Vermeer's brushstrokes and imagine the life that he and his subjects lived. It's always amazed me (and is part of the reason I love art so much) how differently each person can interpret a piece of art and how diverse people's reasons for loving or hating it can be. This book explores that and gives glimpses of each person's reaction to the painting.

The book apparently began as a couple of interconnected short stories that Vreeland had previously written and published, but the novel doesn't read like a collection of short stories. They're unified and flow well and she does a wonderful job of pulling the chapters together and fleshing out all of the characters. A very enjoyable read indeed. It would be interesting to reread it from back to front cover so that the events are in chronological order. I highly recommend for those who enjoyed Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Ugh. So many things to criticize, I just don't know where to start. This book started out promising because it had a unique and unorthodox protagonist, a young woman who *gasp* doesn't want kids. I could relate to this and was hoping to find a story about how it's totally okay to not want children and it's actually a good thing to know what you do and don't want before taking on the life-altering step of getting pregnant so you don't end up begrudgingly raising a kid you never wanted. Instead I got a book about women trying to get pregnant to keep their guy around (sometimes unbeknownst to him, which I think is completely unforgivable and unfathomable), women sticking by their cheating husbands just to keep the kids happy, and the woman for whom I had such high hopes (the protagonist) floundering on her decision and thinking maybe I will bring a child into this world just to make my man happy. Because that's what you do for "true love." Give me a freakin' break.

I had previously read Emily Giffin's Love the One You're With and thought it was pretty good, but throughout reading this one I kept having the nagging suspicion that every protagonist in this author's books are essentially the same woman with very slightly different circumstances going through a major decision or crossroads in her life. I repeatedly got confused for a few moments while reading because I kept getting the protagonist from the other book mixed up with this one. Their lives, personalities, and decisions kept bleeding together into a very disappointing, repetitive mess. Meanwhile the secondary characters were all so paper thin and poorly constructed with such little personality and originality that I couldn't even keep their names straight or give a crap about any of them.

So overall this was a huge let-down. Everyone's raving about Emily Giffin's new book Where We Belong but I'm not sure I even want to give her another chance. I'm noticing a distinct pattern with her books: she reels you in with an intriguing plot and everything's cool and exciting in the beginning, and then about halfway through it's like she runs out of ideas and reverts to dated cliches and lets her characters just go through the motions until she reaches her quota of pages. And then boom, the ending is completely uncharacteristic of the character she created in the beginning. The only reason I actually finished this thing (and omg it draaaaagged on and on and on) is that it really bugs me not to finish a book. Arg, so much wasted time here.

I think this is the first book since The Hunger Games that has made me completely enthralled and invested in the world and characters of a novel. I brought it with me for my vacation to Florida a couple weeks ago and after reading a couple of chapters I got hooked and just started demolishing it. Then when I had a precious few chapters left to go, I stopped. Of course I wanted resolution and to know what happened, but I just didn't want it to end. I had become quite attached to Karou, Akiva, Brimstone, and even Razgut, as well as the entire Elsewhere world. Then I found out that there’s going to be a sequel, so after being reassured that there would indeed be more to come I went ahead and finished it. And it was, of course, amazeballs. Throughout the entire book I was emotionally invested (I think I teared up at least three times like a big ol’ baby), intellectually stimulated and wanting to learn more (I was googling chimaera and seraphim and finding out all kinds of cool stuff about mythology as I read), and just overall floored by this incredible story. So this book is kind of the whole package and I’m very disappointed in myself for waiting until now to read it – I mean, I got it for Christmas and it’s just been sitting on a shelf this whole time! So if you have been thinking about reading this book or if you have even the slightest inclination to check it out, I highly recommend you do so because it really blew me away. I just googled the book again before writing my review and found out (according to Wikipedia anyway) that this will actually turn out to be a trilogy which will then be made into a movie by Universal Pictures. But don’t let that scare you away, because this is absolutely nothing like Twilight. Laini Taylor’s writing and imagination is freaking awesome and truly original. So go read it - now! Meanwhile, I will be waiting with bated breath for the next book, Days of Blood and Starlight (eee!).

I really got into this one at first. It only started to lose me towards the end. The main character, Ellen (a freelance photographer), felt genuine and pretty dynamic (which is not typical in chick lit, from my experience), and the story/conflict was very intriguing. One day in New York while walking home from work, Ellen bumps into Leo, “the one that got away.” Of course a flood of emotions and memories overwhelm her and after they grab a coffee together, the cogs in Ellen’s brain get to working and she starts to wonder “what if?” Up to this point, Ellen has been a blissfully happy and lucky newlywed who’s been married to the utterly too-perfect Andy for a grand total of 100 days now. Andy seems to have absolutely no flaws (except for maybe playing too much golf) which really bothered me since that’s totally unrealistic. Everyone has flaws, and every single husband has annoyed their wife at some point, even if they are still in the “honeymoon phase.” But somehow Ellen and Andy have been able to evade what (to me anyway) is an inevitability and have never had a single fight – seriously? Does this happen in real life? But anyway, I digress. So while Andy and Ellen have this perfect Norman Rockwell-style all-American life going on and lurrrve each other so much, Ellen starts thinking back to the passionate, torrid relationship she once had with Leo and how different the two men are (and, in turn, how different she was and is with each of them). So, what would Ellen’s life be like if she and Leo had stayed together? Would she be happier or did everything turn out for the best?

The theme of this book – past loves and memories and wondering what might have been – reminded me a lot of [book: Ignorance]. While that book gave me a lot more to think in a philosophical sense and really delved into the subject of the past and how people remember things and how that influences us, this book focused more on the actual romance and feelings and I enjoyed each in a different sense. It would’ve been nice if I could’ve learned how the guys (Leo and Andy) were feeling and what they were thinking so I could’ve compared it to the men of Ignorance felt and acted. But Love the One You’re With is from Ellen’s perspective and I understand that it’s her story and her decision. I really wish Ellen’s supporting cast was way more fleshed out though. Everyone but Ellen felt flat and a bit clichéd to me and I just couldn’t care about any of them, which was disappointing since I really wanted to be able to root for one of the guys. The other thing that bothered me was the ending and while trying not to spoil anything, I’ll just say that that little situation would never happen. It just wouldn’t work out. Other than those few things though, this was still very enjoyable as a chick-lit romance. It’d make for good summer reading on the beach. I will say though that this was some of the best writing I’ve read from the chick-lit section. I never felt like everything was being “dumbed down” for me and delivered in a way that a so-called “chick” would want, with a ridiculous emphasis on fashion and status and omg, hot guys. So I will definitely be reading more Emily Giffin in the future. I just might have to get some more of her books for my vacation to Florida next week, yay!

I’m pretty torn on how I feel about this one. There were parts that I wasn’t crazy about (when Martin seems to be trying too hard to either get a laugh by nudge-nudging your ribs or seem “deep” by making his characters have mind-blowing epiphanies when it just doesn’t seem natural), but there were parts that I also really enjoyed. Mirabelle Butterfield (god, what a name – I hated that awful, fake name) was actually a pretty relatable character in that she is always on the outside looking in, struggling with anxiety and depression while trying to be a part of something and make her way in the world. Her love interest, Mr. Ray Porter, is a 50-something-year-old millionaire with the mindset and actions of a teenage boy, wanting to play with Mirabelle like a toy until he gets sick of her. He actually reminded me a bit of the great Gatsby – he’s mysterious and elusive and has a throws a lot of money around to impress Mirabelle. It takes Ray a while to realize just how fragile Mirabelle is and what it means to be in a relationship, how to give and take instead of just using her up and expecting everything to be okay. Meanwhile there’s Jeremy, who’s at the same point emotionally speaking as Ray, but he’s still in his twenties like Mirabelle. He’s awkward and clueless and his first “dates” with Mirabelle are kind of cute in how awful they are.

I think the main reason I’m torn on how I rate and feel about this one is because it’s by Steve Martin. This is the first book I’ve read by him and I still want to read [book: Born Standing Up] and [book: An Object of Beauty]. He’s such a jack-of-all-trades, not just a brilliant comedian but an author, musician, playwright, and art critic. But with all this dabbling here and there I wonder if he’s spread himself too thin or trying too hard to be a modern renaissance man. I can’t be sure that all these efforts are genuine and true, not publicity stunts or methods of staying in the spotlight (which I seriously doubt but there’s a tiny niggling thought in the back of my head that they could be). Because there definitely are celebrities that write books just for the fifteen minutes of extra fame it gets them *cough, Snookie, Paris Hilton, cough*. I guess I just need to read some more of Martin’s work to get a better feel of who he is as a writer and what he’s trying to say, because I’d really like to believe him.

3.5 stars

I got my degree in Art History and I had never heard of the Guerrilla Girls until I took a class called "Women in Art." It's a shame that I had to take a class specifically about women artists before anyone in my field ever decided to mention such an amazing organization. Their goal is to get more women and artists of color showcased (or even put on display rather than kept in basements and storage rooms) in art museums and galleries. They want equality and to be recorded in history books as such. Here are a few of my favorite posters that they've done over the years:







These are all awesome and extremely important messages and ideas that need to get out to the public but I just didn't feel that the book was as powerful and effective as it could have been. I wish there had been some more in-depth analyses of the reasons why women and people of color have been kept out of history books and museums for so long, as well as some more information on some of the more famous women artists. Each artist is given only 1-2 pages apiece (for fairness I suppose) and it's just not enough space to fully discuss them, especially when there's so much extra stuff (quotes, facts, etc.) around the margins. It's a great introduction though to a very important topic and a fabulous organization that's trying to make the world a better place. Here's their website for more information: Guerrilla Girls

3.5 stars

I think pretty much everyone had to read The Scarlet Letter in high school. I did and I remember liking it for the most part (although my memory is hazy) but I also remember wondering why the hell the preacher man wouldn't come forward and claim his and Hester Prynne's love child as his own. And why were we supposed to still pity and revere this holy man when he was standing idly by while Hester and their daughter were outcast from society and treated like lepers? I knew he (Arthur Dimmesdale) was torturing himself internally and developing a heart condition from the stress of not coming forward, but still, how could he just watch as the woman he "loved" was called a whore and adulteress and his daughter labeled an abomination?

Similar thoughts went through my head in this dystopian retelling of that classic novel when Aiden Dale (the most famous preacher around who later becomes the Secretary of Faith - church and government become one in this possible future society) sits on his hands and writhes in pain as he holds his tongue and refuses to admit that he had an affair with Hannah Payne. Hannah goes to trial for the abortion of her and Aiden's unborn child and ends up becoming melachromed ("chromed" for short) as her punishment. As I said before, religion and government merge into an unholy beast of a system in this book where abortion is considered murder, for which Hannah is sentenced 16 years as a Red. She is injected with a virus that pigments her skin a blood red color so that citizens can know her as a killer and treat her as such - this cuts prison costs for the government and actually ends up helping them out by allowing vigilante citizens to target those who have been caught for their crimes, thereby leaving the police force with less criminals to worry about. Sounds like a beautiful world, right? And on top of that, within these strict religious parameters, women are expected to behave as helpers to their husbands and remain forever in their rightful place, i.e. the kitchen (and church of course). They're expected to be subservient to men and never question them or the word of God. Hannah doesn't fit into this way of life so easily. While not overtly rebellious, she asks her parents relentless questions about the Bible and wonders why their answers never stack up - she secretly designs and sews luxurious and sensuous dresses that are not part of the strictly modest dress code - and she also accidentally develops an intense crush and desire for her preacher, Aiden Dale.

I really enjoyed the world that Hillary Jordan created in this book. There is so much about this society that could actually come true if the right (well, wrong) people were given the power. Take for instance Mitt Romney and the Republican Party members trying to ban women's rights to birth control. Clinics like Planned Parenthood which offer abortion services are constantly under fire with tremulous financial supporters, depending on who's currently holding the checkbook (see the Race for the Cure funding scandal). There's a clinic somewhat close to my house and there are picketers there almost every single day with signs about how you're going to hell if you kill one of God's precious creations and how abortion is murder. Sound familiar? I loved the topics that Jordan discusses and makes you think about - women's rights, religion, government, integrity...it gives readers (especially young adults) something to think about and discuss. One of the things I was disappointed in though was that Hannah never completely abandons her religion. She loses her faith for a bit but ultimately decides that it was just God's test or something and the end of the book ends up being kind of a big shiny beacon for religion and what it can do for you. So that left a bad taste in my mouth, but that could just be because of my own views and hatred of religious propaganda. The only other thing that bothered me in the book was that Hannah got really street-smart really fast once she was released from prison and that was just completely unbelievable for me. She grew up super sheltered and then all of a sudden she can tell when she's going to have to shank a dude or not just by looking him in the eye? I don't think so. But I understand that the pace of the book had to be kept up so that she could grow into the person she becomes at the end of the book. Overall, a very good book with a scattered and somewhat confusing ending. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys dystopian fiction or enjoyed The Scarlet Letter, but I think The Handmaid's Tale definitely did a better job in executing this horrifying yet very possible future.

3.5 stars

Ignorance is a modern retelling of The Odyssey, focusing on two emigrants who were forced from their native Czech Republic during the reign of Communism in 1968. Irena flees to Paris with her husband Martin while Josef ends up settling in Denmark. Irena and Josef had met and flirted in a Czech bar briefly years before in their twenties, and they meet by chance again in their homeland after the dust has settled from the collapse of Communism in 1989. While their memories of that first encounter at the bar differ greatly, they both feel like Odysseus returning to his homeland of Ithaca, with everything different but somehow the same. They each have to come to terms with being emigrants back in a place that no longer feels like home, with friends and family who can't (or won't even try) to understand what they're going through. Through all of this confusion and haziness, memories fade, twist, and are lost. Kundera explores the minds and memories of Irena and Josef as well as human beings as a collective, showing how we each form memories (sometimes as we wish things would have happened or more optimistically or pessimistically, depending on the situation when the memory occurred) and how we forget (sometimes ignorantly, sometimes on purpose).

I had no idea this was more of a philosophical book going into it. I only knew of Kundera from The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which has been on my to-read list forever since it's on the BBC book challenge list and a lot of lists of books to read before you die. I think everyone's probably had a relationship that didn't end how you would've liked and that you sometimes replay over in your mind, trying to figure out how it could've gone better and what your life would've been like if you'd had the foresight to fix it while you had the chance. That's what attracted me to this book and it was really a fascinating and illuminating work on that subject. Everyone remembers things differently and there's no guarantee that you're going to make a big enough impact on someone's life for them to remember you for as long as you remember them. While that's kind of depressing, it's also true, and Kundera writes about these abstract ideas like time, memory, home, and absence beautifully. There were several quotes that really resonated with me (Kundera's writing is very profound and inspires lots of "aha" moments) but here are a few I could find:

“The more vast the amount of time we've left behind us, the more irresistible is the voice calling us to return to it.”

“And there lies the horror: the past we remember is devoid of time. Impossible to reexperience a love the way we reread a book or resee a film.”

“The feeling, the irrepressible yearning to return, suddenly reveals to her the existence of the past, the power of the past, of her past; in the house of her life there are windows now, windows opening to the rear, onto what she has experienced; from now on her existence will be inconceivable without these windows.”

Although there were some parts where either the translation got a little confusing or it was just getting a little too philosophical for me, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being soon. You might want to google "Prague Spring" before reading it if you're not familiar with it (as I was not and got a bit lost at times - history was never my strong suit) just so you have a better grasp of the setting and what the main characters are going through. This one probably needs a re-reading sometime in the future so I can better enjoy it and savor Kundera's messages (and probably give it one more star).

I have to admit, I liked the movie a lot more than I did the book (which rarely ever happens). And I'm a bit ashamed to say it because so many people love Roald Dahl because he was such a big part of their childhood, but unfortunately I never read his books as a kid so I'm just now getting around to them as part of my BBC book list challenge. The movie just had a lot more action and a more satisfying ending (as well as some awesome voice-over actors like George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray). Also, the female characters didn't start to swoon and almost die after a couple days without food in the movie (the females are presented as kind of the weaker sex that needs to be taken care of in the book). It was a fun story though and it would be good to bring to children's (maybe ages 7 and up?) attention because it makes you wonder why it's okay to root on Mr. Fox as he steals from three hard-working (but "mean") farmers, but it's not okay to steal overall. Also, why is it okay for Mr. Fox and Gang to exact revenge on the farmers (via hoarding their stolen goods), but it's not cool for the farmers to try to protect their livelihoods by trying to shoot the animals? It'd probably make for some interesting discussions with younger kids.

Every time I hear of Fantastic Mr. Fox I get this lovely song stuck in my head:

Boggis and Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean.
These horrible crooks
So different in looks
Were nonetheless equally mean.

This was a very quick read and would serve as a great intro to graphic novels for those who haven't read them before. I thought it was a great story about a very relatable protagonist named Anya, a teenaged Russian emigrant who is determined to shed everything Russian about her (from her accent to her clothes and curves) so that she can better fit in to her American private high school. Anya is quirky, with an attitude and a mind of her own, and has a badass best friend named Siobhan who doesn't follow the mainstream or do what's expected of her (she's the only female character who wears pants instead of the short skirts of their school's uniforms). They sneak cigarettes together and skip gym and other boring classes and try to be cool little rebels. But Anya still strives for greatness, i.e. the basketball hunk named Sean and his popular clique, and after she falls in a well one day and stumbles upon a helpful ghost named Emily who hopes to make all of her dreams come true for her, Anya thinks she's got it made...but all isn't what it seems with Emily.

I really enjoyed the artwork in this book - I liked that Vera Brosgol didn't depend so much on dialogue to move the story along or give details and hints to the story. The characters are very expressive and there are cool little details throughout that really add to the characters and plot. For example, in Anya's bedroom there are music posters on the wall for The Shins, Belle & Sebastian, Weezer, etc., and that gives another little dimension to who she is and what kind of stuff she's into. The trip to the public library was awesome too because she had to figure out how to use microfilm, which I used to have to use at work, so that stuff was kind of nostalgic for me.

Overall very enjoyable, with beautiful and detailed illustrations, a fun story, a good lesson about accepting and loving who you are and where you come from, and some nice little trips down memory lane.

Here's a link to some snap shots of the book's illustrations as well as a book trailer:
my link text

I love Dr. Seuss books. They're so fun to read aloud (especially to kids, who get big kicks out of the nonsensical and made-up words) and the rhyming gives everything a nice rhythm and pace. This one was a little long for a 5-year-old to sit through but after a couple of "quit messing with that"s we made it through. It's pretty much the same as the movie, only shorter and with a bit less action. If you liked the movie though you'll probably like the book. Overall a very fun book with a very important message - a person's a person, no matter how small.