As You Like It

 

This was a pretty good Shakespeare play. I didn't like it as much as Hamlet but it was cute. It definitely is better than the weak film adaptations it has been given. This play deals with Rosalind who dresses as a man Ganymede. She agrees to help the wrestler Orlando if he pretends she is Rosalind. Ganymede gives him love lessons with him being completely unaware of who he really dealing with. The play ends with the other couples of the play getting married as well. I have to admit that I've just tossed Shakespeare to the side my whole life as something I couldn't possibly understand or some overrated author. I may be in my late 30's but there's still time to catch up.

Searching for Dragons

 I thought that the sequel to "Dealing with Dragons" was cute. This focuses on the "King of the Enchanted Forest" Mendabar and Cimorene. Mendabar finds that Cimorene isn't the usual princess and falls for her. I found their discovery of the way to get rid of wizards to be whimsical. It has been also a gimmick in the third book which I'm reading now. They get set to rescue her dragon Kazul and also fight evil wizards along the way. So far this The Enchanted Forest Chronicles has been fun. I haven't really been much of a fantasy reader. The series has made me realize that perhaps it is a genre worth investigating.

The Last Mimzy

 

My problem with this best-of collection is that I think that Henry Kuttner did better. I know so because I read the short story collection, "Robots have no tails" and that was better. This does contain "The Proud Robot" which was in that book a funny story about an inventor who only creates wonders when he is drunk. Some of the stories here like "A Gnome there was" are just mediocre. However, there are some gems like "Mimsy were the Borogoves."  The lousy movie "The Last Mimzy" was based loosely on that. The story is much better. Also "The Misguided Halo" about a man who is awarded a halo he doesn't want is pretty funny. Writers like Marion Zimmer Bradley were influenced by Kuttner. This is a good book but I wouldn't stop here.

Dealing with Dragons

 

I decided to read something different for a change. I chose this young adult fantasy book and I liked it. I'm even reading the sequel now. I liked the first half of the book more than the second half. It's about a princess named Cimorene who can't stand leading the life of a princess anymore. She agrees to become the cook for a dragon. However, several men don't get the clue and come to fight the dragon.  The second half was about evil wizards but I liked the first half because it got to meet a cool atypical princess. Independence isn't a quality that you see in literature or movies about princesses. This was enjoyable.