Leann’s Comments (group member since Dec 11, 2011)

Leann’s comments from the Off The Shelf group.

The whole concept for Nickled and Dimed actually sounds hilarious. I'm gonna check out everyone else's picks but I'm thinking that's gonna be my pick. Ima save Bossypants for the next Biography we read which is only a few more months in to 2012... if it counts as that. IDK.

Well, peeps, just finished chapter 4, only the very beginning and tail end of which appear in the movie. I didn't care for all the Schmendrick hero worship due to his wizardry, I mean seriously, I'm assuming that in this age/realm, wizards are pretty common, and I've never heard of them being treated like royalty. So, chapter 4, you, my friend, are to poop on.

Kat-- Let me get to Molly Grue in the book, I just made it to Captain Cully, boldest of the bold and freest of the free, so hang out while I discover old M.G. Maybe she's just a naggy hag in the book.

The reason I always loved her was because she is the very opposite of the unicorn, and it comes to her anyway. I always thought unicorns should come to middle aged women who have lost so much of the beauty of their youth because they, unlike their innocent young maiden counterparts, know how valuable it really is, and actually appreciate how fleeting and glorious it is to be beautiful before age and decay snatch it away.

This is why I love Molly Grue. A unicorn comes to her and she collapses, weeping for her lost youth and beauty. She is strong and yet so weak in this light. I loved her for that because it made her more beautiful to me than the unicorn. To me, a woman that has years under her belt, who knows how to care for someone else besides herself, who knows how to do more than pamper her own vanity, is of so much more value. While a beautiful girl who spends all her time in selfish pursuits, tending her looks, her hair, her make up, her body, she is simply without, and very dull, for she gives nothing back in a world that is severely lacking in skilled hands and care takers.

Here's a link to my favorite MG scene in the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFfBuz...

Check it out. :)

It just seems like there are a lot of serious things out there that people are passionate about... I just have so much serious crap in my life already that I usually prefer for my entertainment not to be. For example, we watched that Adam Sandler/Jen Anniston movie last night (Just Go For It?) and even though I had seen it about 3 times before and just watched it last night, I could so watch it again right now. I might be twelve. OH well.

You know what... scratch that stupid cat book, I wanna exchange it for Bossypants by Tina Fey. Seriously? Who wouldn't want to read about Tina Fey? Yeah... I don't know either.

OK. Here goes. These are three that I would really love to read:

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
by Gretchen Rubin

We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee (movie in theaters soon/now)

Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat who Touched the World by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter

As you can tell, I am a simple minded and somewhat whimsical person, I'm not huge on anything too serious. If I were in the mood for serious, I might have chosen one of these:

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctors Journey in the Saudi Kingdom

OR

A Child Called It.

AnyWHO... that's my two cents... for now.

Here were a couple other things I liked:

"Alone in the moonlight, the old woman glided from cage to cage, rattling locks and prodding her enchantments as a housewife squeezes melons in the market."

AND, of course, my absolute favorite line in the movie that I forgot to mention while I was reading chapter one... from the Butterfly,

"You can find your people if you are brave. They passed down all the roads long ago and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints."

That is all for now, peeps.

BTW, I finished chapters 2 and 3 last night. I didn't like the language as much as that in chapter one but it was alright. I didn't have a ton of notes or quotes underlined in these two chapters, but one small part stood out to me. It's where Rukh is introducing Fortuna for the first time and he says this:

"She doesn't look like much, does she?" Rukh asked. "But no hero can stand before her, no god can wrestle her down, no magic can keep her out... or in, for she's no prisoner of ours. Even while we exhibit her here, she is walking among you, touching and taking. For Elli is Old Age."

Then of course next the unicorn is all freaked out because her immortality has no exposed her to these feelings... the book says this of how she felt:

"She felt herself withering, loosening, felt her beauty leaving with her breath. Ugliness swung from her mane, dragged down her head, stripped her tail, gaunted her body, ate up her coat and ravaged her mind with remembrance of what she had once been."

When I read that I thought, "Yeah... me too, Unicorn, me too. Every... single... day."

That really does sound funny.

Karen, are you gonna go ahead and name the genre for January as Realistic fiction?

BTW, Beagle was 23 when he wrote this, which for him being so young, I would say the underlying messages are pretty deep... you know, for such a youngster and all.

Molly Grue is my absolute favorite character... you'll see, you'll see. The part where she first meets the unicorn is one of my favorites. Also, I have trouble forming new opinions about the characters seeing as how I have seen the movie about a thousand times and it is almost verbatim of the book. I would suggest you watch the movie if you haven't already.

As far as the feminist issues, I didn't get that, but as I said, it's hard for me not to equate the tone of the movie with the book and all my original feelings about it. I don't think I was aware of such complex issues in my adolescence and so they don't seem obvious to me here. It's a fairy tale. There are rarely female heroes in fairy tales.

I love all the characters in this book, ACTUALLY, if I had to choose a favorite, I'd choose King Haggard. I always have a soft spot for the bad guy, don't mind me. In the upcoming Avengers movie, I will be voting for Loki.

It would be cool if theres a book you really want to read but maybe only one or two people in the group wanna read it then u could do a mini group challenge that way everyone gets to read all the books they want to.

I was thinking we should have rules on stuff. Like, when we pick a new book, do we read one from the old stuff that didnt get picked or just have everybody put in suggestions again? If a person doesnt want to read a particular book, can they skip a month or veto or?

Also, yes Karen, I was thinking that this book is short enough that we could pick another for January. What do u think of everyone picking a category and the throwing in two choices for that category?

I've decided to take it easy because we have waaayyyy too long to read this book by. Can we try and knock it out by mid-January at the latest?? Can we do a thread on when people get their copy so we'll know? I could have poured through it but I'm trying to pace myself. Karen, when did you say you were getting your copy?? How bout everyone else. I already had it and I think kat did too... what about you guys??

"Your name is a golden bell hung in my heart. I would break my body to pieces to call you once by your name." ~ The Butterfly

Oh for the pete of sakes, Karen, ALRIGHT ALREADY! I'll read it! Just as soon as I finish the other 5 in my queue.

Let the rest of the world be lazy, let them hoard their thoughts and hide themselves by clicking "like". We will be fresh and speak and say what we mean to say instead of merely nodding along in agreement. I like that about readers, and about Goodreads... reading sets us apart and either makes us more intelligent through the pursuit of this love of the written word or keeps us in the company of those who already ARE intelligent because of all the knowledge they have gained from said pursuit.

Clicking "Like" seems lazy to me now that I think about it, bc I had this same thought on different posts. Why not share WHY you like it... just reading this give me so much more insight into the person you are than if you had been able to "like" it with a single click.

The Unicorn "But I would know if all the others were gone. I'd be gone too. Nothing can happen to them that does not happen to me."

A couple pages in, one of the hunters says "Stay where you are, poor beast. This is no world for you. Stay in your forest and keep your trees green and your friends long-lived. Pay no mind to young girls for they never become anything more than silly old women. And good luck to you." I love that thought about young girls all turning into silly old women. :)That is all.... for now.