The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Title: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland #1)

Author: Catherynne M. Valente

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends 2011

Genre: Children's Fantasy

Pages: 247

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library; Women Authors; 52 Books -- W25; Monthly Motif -- Long Journey

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn't . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

Very cute little fantasy novel! This is aimed at children and yet I found that it was a very interesting read for adults. The reader is thrown right into the story experiencing the new and strange right along with September. It reminded me of Peter Pan or The Wizard of Oz. I loved meeting all the other characters especially the Green Wind. Great writing, very imaginative story, fun characters. What more could I want?

Fairyland

#0.5 The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland -- For a Little While
#1 The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
#2 The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
#3 The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
#4 The Boy Who Lost Fairyland
#5 The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Title: High Fidelity

Author: Nick Hornby

Publisher: Riverhead Books 1995

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 323

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; New Authors; Monthly Motif -- January Around the World; Book to Movie; Rory Gilmore Challenge

Rob is a pop music junkie who runs his own semi-failing record store. His girlfriend, Laura, has just left him for the guy upstairs, and Rob is both miserable and relieved. After all, could he have spent his life with someone who has a bad record collection? Rob seeks refuge in the company of the offbeat clerks at his store, who endlessly review their top five films (Reservoir Dogs...); top five Elvis Costello songs ("Alison"...); top five episodes of Cheers (the one where Woody sang his stupid song to Kelly...). Rob tries dating a singer whose rendition of "Baby, I Love Your Way" makes him cry. But maybe it's just that he's always wanted to sleep with someone who has a record contract. Then he sees Laura again. And Rob begins to think (awful as it sounds) that life as an episode of thirtysomething, with all the kids and marriages and barbecues and k.d. lang CD's that this implies, might not be so bad.

This is one of J's favorite books. He's been bugging me to read this for years now. I finally got around to it. And I really did like the book. My favorite aspect is the writing style. Hornby writes as though Rob (the main character) is sitting across from you in some pub telling you his story. There's an easy-ness to the writing that I just loved. As to the characters, Rob reminded me so much of J. I can see why he really likes this book. It's almost part of his life story. Laura is a bit of a flat character, but that's okay. The story isn't about the romance between Rob and Laura. The story is about Rob's life now and his dreams and aspirations. I really enjoyed getting to know Rob and his quirky sense of life.

Movie:

The movie is one of the truest adaptations of a novel that I've ever seen. I really really like this movie. It retains the conversational style of the novel. It retains the quirky characters -- great casting, especially Jack Black as Barry. They make minor changes (like some of the bands mentioned). They make one major change (London to Chicago). But those changes don't bother me at all. The changes don't make a negative impact on the story. Great movie. Great music. Great characters.

2014 Monthly Motif and Key Word Reading Challenges

From Bookmark to Blog:

Welcome to the 2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge! For this challenge, each month is assigned a certain motif or theme. Your task is to read one book per month that fits in with the motif for that particular month.
MONTHLY MOTIFS:

Jan- Around the World Choose a book to read that takes place in a country different than the one you live in or choose a book written by an author that is from a country different than your own.
Feb- Award Winner Read a book that won recognition or an award in 2012.
Mar- Fairy tales or Fairy Creatures Read a fairy tale retelling or a book with fey/fairies in it.
Apr- Short & Sweet Read a collection of short stories or anthologies.
May- Mystery, Murder, & Mayhem Read a murder/mystery book, a book in which someone dies of mysterious causes, or a book in which a mystery must be solved.
June- A Long Journey Read a book in which the character(s) take a trip, go on a quest, or find themselves on a journey toward something, etc.
July- Assassins, Warriors, & Rebels Read a book in which the main character is one of these things or fights against one of these things.
Aug- Alternate Reality Read a book that's set in the future, on another planet, in another dimension, or in an unknown world. A Dystopian book will count this month as well.
Sep- Book to Movie Read a book that has a movie based off of it. For an extra challenge, see the movie as well.
Oct- The Witching Hour There's been a lot of zombies lately, but this year include a 'witchy' book in your scary reads- a book about a witch or a book that has witches in it.
Nov- An Oldie but a Goodie Pick a book published before 2000 that you've always wanted to read, but just never got to. Or pick a book set in the past (before 2000).
Dec- That's a Wrap Finish a series you've been meaning to finish or read the next book in a series you started but never finished.

My TBR:

January -- High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
February -- Flesh and Bone by Jonathan Maberry (Bram Stoker Award)
March -- Tales of the Brothers Grimm
April -- Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk
May -- Deanna Raybourn mystery
June -- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
July -- Maria Snyder fantasy
August -- Cherie Priest or another author's steampunk
September -- Tess of the d'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
October -- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
November -- TBD
December -- TBD

From Bookmark to Blog:

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge! For this challenge I have chosen six key words associated with each month in 2014. Your task is to read one book each month whose title includes one or more of the key words for that month.
* The title you choose can be a variation on one of the key words. For example- your title could include the word 'snowing' or 'snowflake' even though the key word is 'snow.'
* Key words can be tweaked. For example- You could read "Cinder" or "Ashes" for the key word 'Fire' and that would be just fine. If the key word is 'family' then your title could include the word 'sister' or 'mother.'If the key word is 'food' then your title could include the word 'cake.'
* Link up below to participate and add additional links any time you post about the challenge or post about a book you read for the challenge.

MONTHLY KEY WORDS:

JAN- Angel, Secret, Clock, Black, Day, Wild

FEB- Her, Life, Night, Red, Dark, Island

MAR- Forever, Inside, Storm, Sky, Flower, Stay

APR- Star, Light, Never, Princess, Break, Clear

MAY- Dawn, Death, End, Lost, Beautiful, And

JUN- Color, Beyond, Day, Place, Grave, Road

JUL- Beautiful, Ship, Prince, Whisper, Sun, Of

AUG- Forgotten, Down, True, Run, Danger, Me

SEP- Number, Take, Shadow, Ice, Who, After

OCT- Ocean, Blood, Still, Out, The, Fate

NOV- Into, Sound, Blue, House, My, Last

DEC- Kiss, Fire, Ruin, White, Promise, Infinity

My TBR:

January -- In the Company of Secrets
February -- The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul by Terry Pratchett
March -- Yellow Crocus
April -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
May -- The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
June -- The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen
July -- The Little Prince
August -- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
September -- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
October -- Bloodring by Faith Hunter
November -- The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
December -- The Angel's Kiss