Wait and Hope

“It's necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live.” ― Alexandre Dumas

For the Littles:

What Kind of Bird is That? By Mirra Ginsburg
I found this at a library book sale and shrieked with joy - much to my tweens embarrassment. I remember this book so vividly from childhood. A goose borrows body parts from various other birds to become the most interesting but useless bird in the world - adapted from a Russian folktale, so there's a moral at the end.

For Family Readaloud:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
This is my 2nd favorite of the Potter series - I love Lupin and Sirius as characters and the twist at the end. Lupin I think would have been nice to see more of in this series in general.

Rereading it this time, I did think the Shrieking Shack scene just went on forever-long - my dislike of Ron grew every time he pled for his rat (still looking for the best time when Rowling could have killed him off - I'm thinking book 5 or 6…)
But overall this one has one of her better plots, since it kind of had a second climax of the story (first the shrieking shack, then the Harry / Hermione fixing everything, as they do - which shows too how little Ron contributes…).

For Myself:

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged)
I read the 600 page abridged as a teen and Thought it was the unabridged - oh was I wrong! The copy I have is nearly 1500 pages, a veritable brick of a book. I like long novels, hanging out with the same cast of characters for a long time, but I can't put this book in the same class as some of my other favorite lengthy tomes (War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov…we can’t all be Russian).

It does have some interesting historical context - France had a lot going on with Napoleon in and out of power - and a complex plot, but not quite the philosophical depth that kept me riveted to my favorites. Still, there's a lot to love here - action, adventure, revenge.

Overall, if you are a grown up, read the unabridged (I felt like it gave much more depth to Dantes and made the ending more satisfying), but if you are a child or young teen, the abridged is just fine (most abridged versions cut out some of the back stories and subplots but give the overall revenge story).

“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Honestly, I don't usually like epistolary novels, but letters are the whole point to this one. Sybil is a 70+ year old divorcee living alone and losing her sight; her greatest distinction is her love of letter writing, not only to friends but to favorite authors as well. It's another book with a senior citizen main character (which makes sense with our large population of Boomers - who buy books), but it is sort of nice to read a book that shows there's still a lot of possibility and excitement in life even once you are past retirement. I liked Sybil as a character - layered and complex - and Evans did a good job shifting between the different voices and writing styles of her characters. I highly recommend this one!

Writing Updates:
My class on Sylvia Plath still has some openings. Of all the classes I’ve written, this is the one I’ve researched the most because I am secretly obsessed with Plath. I don’t think we would have been friends in real life - I would have been rightfully terrified of her - but her writing is genius.