Mini Reviews: Railway Children, Magician's Elephant and The Missing Ticket

 



The Railway Children 

by Edith Nesbit

★★★★

 

In the great tradition of British children’s literature, Nesbit’s name is always mentioned with reverence. This is my first book of her’s but I can’t wait to recommend her to my nieces and nephews. The story, published in 1906, is about an English family whose father is accused of espionage and imprisoned. His role is rarely mentioned (think of the father in Little Women) and is more notable in his absence than presence. 

 

The children walk to the railway station almost every day and make friends with the regular travelers. They also help an ailing Russian man who is looking for his family. Their mother is strong and supportive, shielding her kids from knowing about their struggles.

 

BOTTOM LINE: The sweet story is a perfect one to read aloud with young kids. The adventures are very episodic and would work well being spread out over the course of a week or two. It reminded me of Swallows and Amazons, another good British children’s book. 

 

 

The Magician's Elephant

by Kate DiCamillo

★★★★☆

 

A young orphan named Peter visits a fortune teller in the hopes of finding out whether his sister is still alive. Her confusing answer leads him on an odd journey. Meanwhile a magician accidently makes an elephant appear out of nowhere in the midst of a performance. The story is full of strange characters and impossible situations, but that just makes it all the more delightful.

 

As the dream-like tale unfolds we meet a nun at a local orphanage, a beggar and his clever dog Iddo, and Hans Ickman, who once had a dog who could jump incredibly high. There’s nothing earth-shattering in this novel, but the way it’s written is charming.

 

BOTTOM LINE: For a slim little novel this story packs a punch. There were little lines full of wisdom that resonated with me. I can’t wait to share this one with my nieces and nephews.

 

“Magic is always impossible,” said the magician. “It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why it is magic.”

 

“We must ask ourselves these questions as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?”

 

“It is important you say what you mean to say. Time is too short. You must speak words that matter.” 

 

 

The Missing Golden Ticket and other Splendiferous Stories

by Roald Dahl

★★★

 

I’ve always been a huge fan of Roald Dahl, from reading The BFG and Matilda as a child to discovering his adult short stories years later. This fun book gives readers a glimpse behind the curtain to learn a bit about how he worked. It includes some fun facts and information about characters that he cut from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

 

BOTTOM LINE: Don’t expect a lot of depth, but this quick read is provides a few interesting tidbits about Dahl and one of his most famous novels.

 

A to Z Reader Survey

Authors you've read the most books from:

Douglas Adams, Jane Austen, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Neil Gaiman, C.S. Lewis, L.M. Montgomery, and William Shakespeare

Best sequel ever:

All of the Harry Potter sequels (I know that’s cheating)

Currently reading:

Arrowsmith, The Cuckoo’s Calling and Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Drink of choice while reading:

Usually either coffee or red wine.

Ereader or physical book:

Physical books all the way, but I’m finally used to occasionally reading on my kindle.

Fictional character that you probably would have dated in high school:

Quentin in Paper Towns or Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I love the quiet guys.

Glad you gave this book a chance:

The Sparrow, seriously it’s so good and the description of it makes it sound awful.

Hidden Gem book:

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, shows the true meaning of endurance.

Important moment in your reading life:

Reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in high school and realizing how fantastic nonfiction could be.

Just Finished:

Re-reading American Gods

Kind of books you won't read:

Romance novels and modern political whining

Longest book you read:

Probably The Count of Monte Cristo or War and Peace.

Major book hangover because of:

The Harry Potter series, every time I read it I don’t want to read anything else.

Number of bookcases you own:

Oh man, nine bookcases including two massive ones that take up a whole wall.

One book you've read multiple times:

Ender’s Game

Preferred place to read:

Curled up on the couch with my pup.

Quote that inspires you:

“Let me be something every minute of every hour of my life…And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost.” — A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Reading Regret:

Not getting the chance to visit Oscar Wilde’s grave when I was in Paris.

Series you started and need to finish:

Sue Grafton’s alphabet series, I read one whenever I need a break from another book.

Three of your all-time favorite books:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Unapologetic fangirl for:

Neil Gaiman and Harry Potter

Very excited for this release:

New Salinger books!

Worst bookish habit:

Buying all of the books!

Xmarks the spot! Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:

The Portable Dorothy Parker

Your last bookish purchase:

A gorgeous 1916 copy of A Girl of the Limberlost from Half Priced Books.

Zzz-snactcher. Which book kept you up way to late:

The Night Circus

Photo by moi. 

Mini Reviews: More Tales of the Unexpected, The Keep and Uglies

More Tales of the Unexpected

by Roald Dahl

★★★★★

Most people know Roald Dahl because of his wonderful stories for children. From Matilda to James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the BFG, Dahl has enthralled generations of kids. But somehow most people have missed out on his short stories for adults. He published multiple collections in this vein and this one is a perfect example of his work.

The book reminds me of short stories from both Ray Bradbury and Flannery O’Connor (LINK TO BOTH). He tends towards a darker view of the world and people in general. Some of the stories are creepy, like The Sound Machine and the chilling Genesis and Catastrophe. Others like The Umbrella Man and Vengeance is Mine Inc. are quirky and fun.  

The slim book contains the following stories:

Poison

The Sound Machine

Georgy Porgy

Genesis and Catastrophe

The Hitch-hiker

The Umbrella Man

Mr. Botibol  

Vengeance is Mine Inc.

The Butler

BOTTOM LINE: If you’ve never read any of Roald Dahl’s adult stories this is a great place to start. The man had a wicked sense of humor and a style of writing that people have adored for decades. I’d also recommend his nonfiction memoirs Boy and Going Solo.

The Keep

by Jennifer Egan

★★★

Danny is a lost soul who never manages to grow up. After living in New York for years bouncing from one job to the next he finds his life to be empty. He travels to Eastern Europe to meet his cousin Howard who is trying to open a hotel in a rundown castle. Their complicated history makes their relationship tenuous at best.

The atmosphere is perfectly set, a creepy castle in Eastern Europe, a dark trauma from the past returns to haunt the characters, sounds perfect. Unfortunately the plot quickly becomes weighed down with unnecessary side plots. There’s Danny’s obsession with technology, Howard’s complicated marital life, a crazy baroness living in one tower of the castle, etc. Each of these elements could be interesting, but together they create a bit of a mess.

Just when the plot does hook you it changes gears completely and we find a new set of characters in a writing class in prison. This drastic switch never quite meshes with the feel of the other plot line. Egan works to bring the stories together, but it just doesn’t feel right. Then at the end she tries to wow us with a “twist” that’s not as shocking as it should be. We switch narrators one more time in the final chapters and it once again feels like an entirely new book.

BOTTOM LINE: I admire the writing style, but the story itself never comes together. The author couldn’t seem to decide on a narrator and so the book feels like three separate short stories smashed together. Try her much more successful book A Visit from the Goon Squad instead.

Uglies

by Scott Westerfeld

★★

Tally lives in Uglyville. She is an “Ugly,” someone who hasn’t yet received the surgery that all individuals get at age 16 to make them into a “Pretty.” As she watches her best friend enjoy his extravagant new lifestyle as a Pretty she can’t wait until it’s her turn. All of that changes when she makes a new friend and learns there might be a world outside the city life she knows and there might be some hidden secrets to the life of a Pretty.

This one felt like a completely cookie-cutter dystopian novel. Take one misunderstood girl. Add an unnecessary love triangle. Pick a random dystopian elements where the whole society is being deceived about something. And voilà you have a young adult dystopian novel. While I've enjoyed many of these in the past this one just fell completely flat. The characters feel like cardboard cutouts. I couldn't even make myself care what happens.

I do like the idea of a society where everyone receives the same plastic surgeries so there is a visual equality. It's an interesting idea for a dystopia but in execution it felt very forced. I will say I think this book would have been a great precursor to the Hunger Games series. It’s almost telling the story of how the Capital society became what it is.

BOTTOM LINE: I won’t be reading the rest of the series and this isn’t one I’d recommend.

Matilda

Matilda

by Roald Dahl

★★★★★

Matilda is a precocious 5-year-old with a brilliant mind. Her parents are the worst sort of people and think reading is horrible. Luckily she has a kind teacher, Miss Honey, who sees the potential in her work. The school Matilda attends is run by the terrifying headmistress Miss Trunchbull, one of the all-time best villains in children’s literature.  

I read this book so many times when I was little and I loved returning to it. I was an avid reader at a young age and I identified with Matilda. Obviously I wasn’t as advanced as her and my parents actually supported reading, but I still loved her story. I love almost everything Roald Dahl wrote, but this remains my favorite. Sure, the story is a bit far-fetched when it comes to Matilda’s intelligence and child custody laws, but who cares? It’s a children’s story and I love it.

BOTTOM LINE: An absolute childhood favorite that I adore. Perfect for that little reader in your life.

There’s a list of books that Matilda reads when she’s a little girl and I’ve always wanted to read everything on it. Here it is with the books I’ve read in bold.

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Gone to Earth by Mary Webb

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Good Companions by J.B. Priestly

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Top Ten Authors that Deserve More Recognition

This week we’re allowed to pick any old topic for the Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish. I wanted to focus on authors I think deserve more recognition.

It’s always amazing to me that some authors get loads of hype while others fly under the radar. You never quite know why one book gets a flurry of attention and another equally good one never becomes the new “it” thing to read. So here are a few authors that I wish more people would sit up and recognize. This isn’t to say no one reads their books or they haven’t won any awards, it’s just to say that they aren’t household names like John Grisham or Charles Dickens.

1) Carlos Ruiz Zafon – I love this man’s books. His writing is like magic to me, but sadly many people have never heard of him. TRY: The Shadow of the Wind

2) Richard Russo – He tends to be lumped into the modern white man category with Philip Roth, John Irving and John Updike, but I think he stands alone in his ability to create relatable characters and excellent small town dynamics. TRY: Empire Falls or Bridge of Sighs

3) J.D. Salinger – Yes, I know that everyone knows who he is, but usually it’s because of Catcher in the Rye and not his other work. I honestly didn’t really like that book, but I adore his others. Two many people read Catcher and write him off. TRY: Nine Stories or Franny and Zooey  

4) Kate Morton – She writes fantastic gothic mysteries with wonderful characters and yet I just heard about her last year! TRY: The Forgotten Garden

5) Graham Greene – He’s well-known in readers’ circles, but he’s often overlooked by people just starting to explore the classics. TRY: The End of the Affair

6) Mary Roach – Anytime a book is dismissed because of its genre I think that’s a mistake. Roach writes nonfiction, but because her books aren’t memoirs people assume they’re serious. In reality Roach writes hilarious books about a variety of strange subjects. TRY: Stiff

7) Douglas Adams – He was brilliantly funny, but just like it is with movies, comedy is rarely respected. How often do comedic movies win the Oscar for best picture? Sometimes I think it’s much harder to truly be funny than to be serious. TRY: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

8) E.M. Forster – I have no idea why, but he’s never at the top of any “Best of” classics lists. His novels are some of my favorites! TRY: Howards End or A Room with a View

9) Dennis Lehane – In recent years Lehane’s books have become popular fodder for movies. There’s Mystic River, Shutter Island and Gone Baby Gone, but as it usually is, the book is better. He creates amazing characters and his books are hard to put down. TRY: Mystic River

10) Roald Dahl – Not his kid’s books, we all love those. I think Dahl’s adult stories are really underrated. They are clever and creepy and I love them! TRY: Umbrella Man

Photo from here.

Top Ten Books To Read During Halloween

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks from good Halloween reads.

1) Umbrella Man - I wish more people knew how great Roald Dahl's adult short stories are. They are wonderfully creepy and perfect for Halloween.

2) The Woman in Black - My new favorite ghost story. I will absolutely be breaking this one out frequently for Halloweens in the future.

3) The Thirteenth Tale - Gothic horror story for book lovers, can't beat that.

4) The Little Stranger - A haunted house... or is it?

5) We Have Always Lived in the Castle - I just read this one and it's super creepy and captivating.

6) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - It's a classic and it's the ultimate good vs. evil story, because we each contain a bit of both.

7) The Bunnicula series by James Howe - I loved this series growing up and these books would be great Halloween read for kids.

8) The Graveyard Book - Imagine reading passages from this in a graveyard at night. I'm getting chills just thinking about it.

9) The Yellow Wallpaper - There's seriously nothing scarier than losing your mind.

10) The Cask of Amontillado - Every Halloween list needs a bit of Poe and this is one of my favorites.

Pumpkin from here.

The Remarkable Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl has long been one of my favorite authors. He became famous for his much-lauded books like, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." But I am even fonder of his nonfiction pieces like, "Going Solo" and his macabre adult short stories.

I recently decided to re-read a few of his young adult books and had a chance to fall in love with his writing all over again. Dahl had a gift for telling stories with a good moral lesson without making the reader feel like they were wading through saccharine. I can't say enough about how wonderful his books are. I remember reading them as a kid and just loving every second of it.


If you're new to Dahl or have a son/daughter/niece/nephew whom you think would appreciate his genius, here's a few must reads...

Matilda - A young girl, who loves books, struggles to feel accepted by her family. Then she discovers she has a secret power!

James and the Giant Peach - An orphaned boy, who lives with his evil aunts, climbs into a giant peach and finds a new family in the form of huge, friendly bugs.

The BFG - The Big Friendly Giant is an outcast in the world of giants. He doesn't like to eat little children. Instead he sneaks around at night giving the children wonderful dreams.

Going Solo - Dahl writes about his time as a pilot during World War II. He ends up in plenty of scrapes, including a plane wreck that almost kills him.

The Umbrella Man - These dark, twisted tales are a perfect treat for grown ups who remember loving Dahl as a child and would like a taste of his work for adults.


Photos by moi.