So many books, so little time

  Read in July 2020 Well, at least I can say I've read this classic. It is far too long with way too much detail. Putting my English Literature student hat on, I can appreciate it as an important work full of symbolism, allegory and other literary devices. But, personally, even though I did find some unintentional innuendo amusing, I feel that overall this is not a book to be read for enjoyment because it is just so dense and the many, many passages about whale anatomy and behaviours etc were a bit textbook-ish and felt never-ending. I chose an audiobook version of Moby Dick (narrator: Anthony Heald) and that made the experience more bearable. If I'd been reading it myself, I may not have made it to the end. Occasionally, while reading, I wanted to recommend  The Old Man and the Sea  instead which shares some plot similarities. I really dislike that book but at least it felt like it had more action. I recently had a conversation on here about treating classics differently...

Read in July 2020 So detailed but occasionally it felt like I was just reading a list of places and names. Plus, it was more like an academic commentary than a fantasy story. A good chunk of the book was dedicated to comparison, analysis and exploration of various versions of this tale and the editorial and writing decisions that were made. The actual story of the Fall of Gondolin only takes up about 1/3 of the whole book. It wasn't as magical as the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings because even though Tolkien's manuscript was edited by his son, it still felt unfinished to me. I think it's a must read for Tolkienists who devour anything to do with Middle Earth lore but perhaps not for casual fans like myself

  Read in June 2020 Well, well a graphic novel I can actually read. By that I mean that I am more used to pages of prose and usually moan there aren't enough words in the speech bubbles of comics to tell the story. Not here, though. It was quite a pleasurable reading experience. I really enjoyed Nimona. It's a story full of sorcery, science, shapeshifting and sass. I adored how the whole hero/villain dynamic was portrayed and how the story got a little darker as we found out the characters' back stories. I felt some scenes could have been expanded a little but this was such a quick, fun read that left me wanting more. I hear that there's going to be a film in 2022 - I'll be checking that out! And if Noelle Stevenson wants to create any more graphic novels about Nimona and co, I'll definitely be buying a copy!

Read in June 2020 Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Many countries are in/have been in lockdown due to the corona virus pandemic. Maybe I picked a bad time to read this because the start was prophetically close to our current situation. I said a few months ago that now feels like chapter 1 of a dystopia. I don't want it to go any further if it's anything like the events in the subtle yet haunting Station Eleven. Ignoring the parallels with reality, this was a simmering, beautiful interconnected story that was very character driven. I couldn't put this book down. I would like to read it again when I'm not worrying so much about real life

  Read in June 2029 A marker of how much I enjoy Shakespeare's plays is if after reading them, I want to see a performance of it. So far during my personal lifetime challenge to read his complete works (about 20 plays read to date), there are three I would love to watch in a theatre: Macbeth, The Tempest, and now  Hamlet . Hamlet is eminently quotable and definitely one of Shakespeare's best. I enjoyed it so much. Especially, as all I really knew about it before reading was that the Lion King was essentially the same story with hyenas instead of a skull 🦁👑💀. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much if forced to study and overanalyse it at school. But, I would really recommend you read this for pleasure if you can.

  Read in May 2020 I noticed that Hamilton Wright Mabie combines different elements into one fairytale. For example: * One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes was very similar to Cinderella * The Magic Mirror had echoes of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. * The start of the Enchanted Stag sounded a lot like Hansel and Gretel I was even surprised to find some linked to Arthurian legend. How interesting! A few stories were new to me but I'd heard the majority before. Maybe it's because I'm familiar with a lot of the stories but I would have liked a bit more creativity in these retellings. Some were quite trite and simplistic while others had unexpected darkness. Most were very repetitive. I also think that reading the originals would have been better because something appears to have been lost in translation here.

Serena Valentino has written several stories focusing on the villains from Disney films. I read a few of them in May 2020. They are supposed to stand alone but there is something that connects them all. FAIREST OF ALL: the story of the Queen from Snow White. I was annoyed that Ms Valentino wasn't creative enough to think of a name for the Queen. It would have helped me connect with her story more. ⭐⭐⭐ THE BEAST WITHIN: the story of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast.  First of all, I have issues that  the Beast  Prince Adam is portrayed as a villain here. Is he really? Arguably, the witch who cursed him is the true villain. And then there's Gaston and the madhouse owner who have evil tendencies. Personally, I stand by Adam being misunderstood. Belle  is my favourite Disney Princess so I always have high hopes that retellings do her story justice. So far, it's been hit (such as  As Old As Time ) or miss (e.g.  Beastly ) for me. The Beast Within is unfortuna...