Mike > Recent Status Updates

The Ice Maiden is the most boring villain of all time.

The Ice Maiden has nothing to do with The Snow Queen. I cannot express how confusing this is.

The Story from the Sand Hill was the most boring, preachy thing in this anthology.

The Little Mermaid was quite good, a lot better than the Disney movie. The Wild Swans, on the other hand, was boring wish-fulfillment.

When Nobody Listens by Tim Gautreaux: 4/5 The theme kinda came out of nowhere, but still pretty funny.

Fumbling for the Keys to the Door of Perception by William Gay: 4/5 Well-written and entertaining

The Underwear Salesman by John Grisham: 2/5 Generic and badly-written

Job Experience by William Groom: 4/5 Also pretty funny

Why I Worked at the P.O. by Silas House: 5/5 Immersive and funny; excellent

I really, really like Under the Willow Tree. Other than that, not much noteworthy.

I just realized this is a rich savior story. I'm not sure what it says about me that it took until three-quarters of my way through the novel to notice.

The Bond of Friendship was rather uncomfortable, but I really, really love The Neck of a Bottle.

I will no longer accept anyone talking about how much teenagers are jerks. Eleven and twelve year olds are so much worse.

Railroad as Art by Howard Bahr: 2/5 (DNF): Pretentious and badly written

Real Work by Rick Bragg: 4/5 Interesting story, ended too soon

A Late Start in Mississippi by Larry Brown: 5/5 Very engaging

Deacon Summer by Pat Conroy: 4/5 Fascinating, inconsistent writing

Connie May is Going to Win the Lottery This Week by Connie May Folwer: 5/5 Funny and engaging

Delivering by Tom Franklin: 3/5 Unnoteworthy

The Story of the Year and In A Thousand Years were both kind of simplistic and lame - I thought Andersen was better than that kind of thing. But I do really love "There is a Difference". It's not exactly subtle, but then again, it's a fairy tale for kids. It's definitely a powerful story, subtle or not.

Bess and Ethan's characterization are easily the best thing about this novel. Wittlinger just doesn't have a great story for them. I kind of wish the charity aspects were cut out, and it was just about them being in middle school and their school play.

What the Moon Saw is kind of interesting, even if I barely remember most of the vignettes.

I gotta say, this isn't one of Wittlinger's better novels. I'm finding that I don't like her earlier novels as much as her later ones, and this is no exception. I like Bess as a character, but the story is just too simple and didactic.

These are getting better. I really like both The Happy Family and The Rose Elf. Good stuff.

My biggest worry is that this novel is going to be too didactic to be effective. So far, that definitely seems to be the case, but maybe Wittlinger can turn it around.

I'm about to leave for New York City*, and I'm not sure if I'll have consistent access to wi-fi while I'm there. So if I don't answer private messages or comments for the next few days, that's why.

*Where they paint murals of Biggie/in cash we trust cause it's ghetto fabulous life look pretty/what a pity

It's weird that Anne keeps saying how bad her mother is. She paints Mrs. van Daan as so much worse - I can't really tell why she dislikes her mother.

Is this entire novel just one big argument for a single-payer healthcare system? Because that would make it much more interesting.

I remember reading from the introduction to this book that this was the unabridged version, that included the parts where Anne talked about sex and her mother's bad parenting. Towards the beginning, I was underwhelmed. But now... Jesus, they must've cut the entire last third of the original edition.

I'm embarassed to think that my crushes from a couple of years ago were probably similar to Anne's obsessive crush on Peter.

It's kind of interesting to see Peter's perspective on Anne. We see so little outside perspective on her, since this is her diary. I wonder how accurate her image of herself is.

In retrospect, I kind of wish I had read the version of this that was released first, the one without the discussions of sex and Anne's mother being a bad parent. The discussions of sex does add to our understanding of Anne, but at the same time, it's kind of uncomfortable. It feels like an invasion of her privacy - I can't imagine that she intended the whole world to read this.

The problem with this novel is that it doesn't really improve on a nonfiction book about teenagers who lose limbs. Like, the reason to read a novel about this subject instead of a nonfiction book is so that we have a human personality to relate to. We don't really get that here - Jessica could be anybody.

I didn't think I'd enjoy this as much as I am. Anne Frank is just a really good writer - she does a good job of communicating how she feels during her ordeal, and it makes her relatable.

I guess my problem is that it's hard to tell what this is supposed to be about - is it about Kate's problems with MIT, or is it about her trying to relate to Terri? The two plotlines don't seem to have much in common.

Nobody ever told me that Anne Frank has a sense of humor.

I genuinely did not see that coming. It's been a while since a book has surprised me that much.

The Little Match Girl has always been one of my very favorite fairy tales, and I still like it here. A great example of less is more.

I'm really glad I got a relatively unabridged version of this book. I guess I could've lived without the discussions of sex, but it adds a lot to see how Anne felt about her mother. I feel like it's really important to understanding her.