Waiting for Godot

This is famous for being a play about nothing. It kind of reminds of "My dinner with Andre" where nothing much happens, just a lot of talking, but you feel that something important has happened. Two characters wait for a figure called Godot. As the play goes on, you realize that Godot is flawed and not a saint, maybe not worth the wait. Messenger boys come which give the characters the sense that Godot will arrive. The reason why I read it is because the actors behind "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are doing a revival. I keep seeing ads on Facebook for it. I don't have the money to fly out to New York but that would be fun to watch. Reading it I guess is the second best thing.

Brazilian Mythology

I don't know why Brazilian mythology is not better known. There is some pretty interesting folklore here. I read more about botos. They are weredolphins (aka encantados). (I wrote a story about them once.) There's also a bit about their boogeymen. I also want to read Monteiro Lobato's Saci even though I heard that there's much to be desired with the English translation. If you want to delve into the mythology of a culture that is not really talked about here is the way to go.

Nine Inches

I read Election in high school and liked it so I thought I would revisit Tom Perrotta. This is a book of short stories about a bunch of Suburban losers. The two stories I liked the most concerned the mother chaperoning a graduation party and getting along with a cop who had recently pulled her over. My favorite would probably be the teacher who confronts the kid who gave her a negative review on a rateyourteacher website. The ending was funny. Half the stories concerned high school. There were mixed feelings on others like the pediatrician. I liked his love for music but I couldn't look pass his infidelity. I gave this a 3/5 on goodreads. The crudity was really why but that's typical of adult books published nowadays. It's why I stick to children's books and classics.

Up a road slowly

I liked this girl's coming of age story. One person on goodreads said the characters were stereotypical. But I think the characters in the book represent people you can meet in real life like the spinster aunt and the drunken uncle who dreams of being a writer. The boyfriend jock who takes advantage of her academically yeah there are jerks like that in real life too. There was a coziness to the book. I think this was even better than Across Five Aprils. Irene Hunt was a talented children's writer. The only bad thing about the book is the cover. My sister asked me if I was reading a romance.

Iphigenie

This was a play written by Jean Racine who was heavily influenced by Euripides. This is a play about a father sacrificing his daughter. Even her fiance falls for someone else. All is looking doomed for Iphigenie but there is a twist at the end. I thought it was all right. It was different than my usual reading. I needed a break from all of the children's literature I've been reading lately. 3/5

Across Five Aprils

I read this when I was a kid and decide to read it again for curiosity's sake. It was all right. It's a coming of age story set during the Civil War. The Creightons have their fair share of enemies even though they are good people. I'm mixed about the parts of the book where they tell about history and then jump back into the story. It's probably good for children but I wanted to get back to the plot. The most inspirational thing about this book to me is that the author was 57 when it got published. As an inspiring writer, this made me happy. It's never too late to be discovered. She would go on to write other successful books too.

Black Hearts in Battersea

This was a sequel to The Wolves of Willoughby Chase but you don't have to necessarily have to read that book to follow. It follows the character Simon as he tries to become an artist and make it on his own as an adult. Only he doesn't know what's become of his friend Dr.Field. Sophie from the first book shows up as well. Soon he finds the people he lives with the Twites, who have been dishonest about Dr. Field, want to get rid of the Duke of Battersea. Soon Simon finds himself involved in a kidnapping and other complications happen. It was cute. I also liked the character Dido.

The Summer of the Swans

I remember liking this in grade school. This was a pretty good read. Sara doesn't realize how much she loves her handicapped brother until he gets lost. After showing him swans one day, he decides to venture out on his own to see them. Soon the whole town searches for him. Sara finds much to her surprise out that the school bully is one of the people who help the most in the search. She learns a lot about her self, family, and that people aren't always what they seem to be.

Egyptian Mythology for Kids

Sometimes it helps to read a kid's book on mythology or history. It dumbs it down. I enjoyed this quick read and it was free from Amazon. I haven't read about the Egyptians since the sixth grade. There were many things I didn't know like there are other cultures that have pyramids and that the Egyptians had problems with diabetes and obesity. I wish it had pictures. That would have made it a better children's book.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

This classic book influenced many children's books after it's publication including one I recently read Peppermints in the Parlor. It's the story of two orphans who have to live in a a home where a wicked governess rules. She dismisses the servants and soon the children think of a way to leave. I think this even influenced Lemony Snicket. It has style AND substance. I just wish that the wolves were used more. They are only brought up like twice and for being in the title I was hoping that they would be more in the plot.

The Exiles

This was an ok collection of Horacio Quiroga's short stories. The Decapitated Chicken and other Stories is one of my all time favorite books. This feels like the weaker song of a 45 record. This collection deals with desperate laborers more. There are moments that shine like Beasts in Collusion where a crazy boss finds two employees who simply are invincible. I'm keeping my copy but I won't be coming back to it as much as The Decapitated Chicken.

The Great Depression

I learned from this short history book that there was a lot about The Great Depression I didn't know about. Because of The Great Depression social security and disability payments were added. Also the United States was not the only country impacted by The Great Depression. I like Billy Wellman's books because they informative and they're pretty quick to read through.

Thursday

This was an ok Catherine Storr young adult book. Bee is on the hunt for her missing friend Thursday. She finds out that he is in a place where his mental problems are being taken care of. There's also a subplot about faeries. The handling of the mental problems was ok. It wasn't an exaggerated portrayal. Marianne Dreams is still my favorite book from her though.

The Ivy Tree

This is the first book I've read from Mary Stewart. It was entertaining. A girl is approached by someone who says she's her cousin. Apparently she looks exactly like a girl back home. Would she pretend to be the girl for the slice of a dying man's inheritance? Or is she actually the girl herself? Secrets come forward. The truth has to be revealed because of the circumstances of the girl's past lover. This was written before The Crystal Cave which Mary Stewart is mostly known for.

The American Civil War

I read this book to remind myself of the history of the Civil War. I was surprised how much I remembered still from school. What surprised me about this book was how much it didn't progress the African American movement. After the Civil War African Americans still weren't able to serve on juries and people were finding loopholes to keep people in slavery. So there was still a long ways to go.

The Roaring Girl

This was an interesting play from the 1700s where a transvestite Moll is the hero. Sebastian can't marry the woman Mary of his choice so he asks Moll to help him out. Moll pretends to be his partner. At first the father is relieved just that it isn't Moll that Sebastian wants to marry. In the end the father respects both women. This was kind of groundbreaking but I just thought it was ok. There were bettter plays from the 1700s.

A GIrl in Winter

I've now read Philip Larkin's two novels. His work as a poet, which he is known for, is much better but still it was worth reading. I prefer his book Jill since it was more imaginative. In this book we meet Katherine. She spends time with her pen pal/boyfriend Robin and his sister. In the first part you see her job at a library and her boss who has a confrontation with her towards the end. There's also an eerie dentist scene. I felt it was a quiet pleasant read.

The Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Creatures

I really liked this children's book that I got from the library. I enjoyed it so much I bought my whole copy. It's a beautifully illustrated book that goes over shape-shifters, tricksters, and other popular creatures. Werewolves, vampires, and the loch ness monster are discussed for example. I think it is a perfect book to give to a child with an eager imagination.

Dune

I watched the recent movie of this and found it to be a snooze fest, a nearly three hour long movie of desert shots. Then I read an internet review where they called the book unfilmable so I decided to give it a shot. I liked it. It's not one of my favorite books but it was good and it makes the list of one of the longest books I've read. It influenced Star Wars that much is clear. It's an epic about a boy named Paul, his family, and an addictive spice that rules their desert world. It took me a couple of months to read it and I had to throw it away since it was in way too poor condition to keep by the end. It was intriguiing enough to keep me interested throughout it's 700+ pages. I can see why it's one of the most popular science fiction books of all time. It is well thought out and imaginative. It's one of those science fiction books that will be labeled as literature an hundred years from now.

The Robber

I found Robert Walser's last novel to be kind of hard to follow. It wasn't my favorite of his. A robber has a couple of relationships but he can't win the attention of his indifferent lover Edith. It's written by a narrator who may or not be the main character, This wasn't published during Walser's lifetime and written before his stay in a sanatorium.

Pornografia

I really wish the author came with a less shocking title. It threw me off for years and made me not wish to read this 1960s Polish classic. Eventually I caved in. During World War II two old men experiment with two teenagers, a boy and a girl. After failing to get them to fall in love, eventually murder replaces their plans. This isn't Gombrowciz's most famous book. Rather Ferdydurke is. The novel is dreamlike and you often question what is really going on. It's not for everyone but I liked it.

Peppermints in the Parlor

This is another Wallace book about an orphan but she does such a good job at it. Emily comes to live at a mansion only it doesn't have the memory she once had of it. She becomes a servant at what is now an old folks home. She and a boy Kipper begin to form friendships with the old folks and yes there is a subplot about peppermints. This wasn't my favorite Wallace book but it was all right. People compare it to A Little Princess a lot on the internet but come on so many books are.

Maurice

I watched the movie when I was a teenager. I also read A Passage to India when I was 14 but it's been a long time since I've read Forster. It's always been something I've been meaning to do. Maurice is crushed when his lover decides to go straight. Eventually Maurice finds happiness in a person of a lower station. E.M. Forster didn't get this book published when he was living. It would have destroyed him but it's one of best homosexual love stories I've read. You can tell that this all probably happened to Forster. The feeling involved hardly seems like fiction. The movie did a good job adapting the book.

Girlfriends, Ghosts, and other Stories

This is a collection of 2-3 page short stories from Robert Walser. They're more of a writing exercise not much happens. When I first attempted Jakob Von Gunten in my twenties I didn't finish it. I didn't care for the book. I tried it in my forties and I liked it. Things change. His dreamy writing style embracing monotony is interesting. I have to give it to New York Review Books for releasing his books. What I really would like to do is read a book about his life.

The Chrysalids

This book about mutants kind of reminded me of the Netflix show I just watched Sweet Tooth. (Sweet Tooth was more sentimental though.) This is a book about a group of mutants who eventually have to run from their community. Nothing stops the hatred of them. Even their own blood turns against them. The book begins with a boy seeing a girl with six toes and then he gradually realizes he has a mutation too except it is one in his mind. His father is a psychotic religious figure and terrorizes even family that breed mutants. Soon he and his friends have to run from the place where they live into the fringes. I felt the book dragged when they went to the fringes. It's a good book but not as good as Wyndham's other books like The Day of the Triffids and especially my favorite Chocky. Wyndham and Theodore Sturgeon are my favorite science fiction writers from the 1950s.

The Book of Mysteries, Magic, and the Unexplained

This was a fun juvenile book with great illustrations. It simply goes over aliens, witchcraft, fairies, Bigfoot, and other unexplained phenomena. It's basically just an introduction to the world of the weird for kids. Still there were somethings I didn't know about and it was a quixk page turner.

Mermaids by Skye Alexander

This was an ok book with some information about mermaids. It was better than the Among the Mermaids book I read earlier. It discusses how mermaids have gone from from the image of being terrifying sirens to sex symbols. I'm still looking for a mermaid book though that isn't new agey.

Dealer's Choice

This is Patrick Marber's first play. He is most known for Closer. It was ok. It deals with Carl, a compulsive gambler who has a debt to play. So he lets Ash, a professional gambler into his father's poker night. The tension is high as a group of men already want to deal physically with Carl. Ultimately this play is about family. I didn't like the use of coarse language involved but then the word of poker is not a friendly one. It was ok for a debut and showed promise.

After Miss Julie

I read Miss Julie last week and was looking forward to a modern adaptation but this was a let down. Marber is most known for Closer. This was a cruder adaptation of Miss Julie except it takes places in the 1940s. There were less options for women in the 1800's so Julie was far more trapped and this wasn't taken into consideration. I also read Marber's Dealer's Choice which I thought was ok. I'll review that next week. I think he has talent but not here.

Miss Julie

I haven't read this play since I was a child. I was more impressed this time around. Maybe because I understand the social structures of society better. It's about a wealthy woman who has a brief relationship with a servant in her household. He is bethrothed to the cook of the household. Although the two discuss plans to be with each other it becomes clear that it could never really happen. The play explores themes of the social structures of society and feminism. Miss Julie comes across as desperate and a coward at times. The characters aren't one note. It's a short play that packs a lot of punch. I remember liking the 1950's movie of this as a kid as well and I need to revisit it.

A Canticle for Leibowitz

This was a pretty cool science fiction book that received mixed reviews in its time and has gone on to become a classic. It's post-apocalyptic but this was before it became a cliche since this was written in 1959. The four stories are concerned with the writings of a saint named Leibowitz. They're all very different stories though. I have to say the last part Fiat Voluntas Tua was a page turner for me. It was about a nuclear fallout and the fight between a doctor and a priest for the destruction it caused. It was very against euthanasia, a controversial topic. I think it made its argument well. The author didn't write much after this becoming a recluse which I think makes this book even more fascinating. This isn't your standard bestseller. This is one that actually has thought to it.

House of Bernarda Alba

I wonder if Thomas Cullinan, the writer of The Beguiled, read this play. I actually liked it just as much as Lorca's Blood Wedding. It concerns a controlling widow whose husband has just died and her household of repressed spinster daughters. Eventually a few of them go crazy about a guy in town and it eventually leads to tragedy. It took me a while to get into it but I found the play entertaining. Lorca was a pretty good playwright whose life was cut short by an assassination. It's terribly tragic since the man was so talented. I need to give his poetry a chance now.

Robinson Jeffers

When my twin sister was in the sixth grade her class was doing a poetry unit. She had a poetry phase for a while. My sister had to memorize a poem and she chose a poem by Robinson Jeffers. His poetry is mostly about nature and how people should stop what they are doing and look at its wondorous nature. My favorite poem here was Roan Stallion about a woman in an abusive marriage and her relationship with a horse.

Yerma

This was an ok play by Federico Garcia Lorca. It means barren. It's about a barren woman whose desperation leads eventually to tragedy. It's her obsession and the only function in society she can think of. She resorts to witchcraft, pretty much anything. It's sad because the ending was nearly a happy one.