What We've Been Reading

Dustin:
Lev Grossman's The Magicianswas recommended to me by someone who clearly knew exactly what I was looking for. (Who could it have been?) It's a satire of fantasy books (read: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia). But what's really great about it is that it is a fantasy book, and an engrossing one. But it inverts the basic premise behind the classics of the genre. Quentin, the main character, has always wanted to live in a magical world, but when his fantasy is actualized he realizes that his magical world is just as mundane as the "real" world. Life in his world isn't as exciting and full of daring acts of courage as the fantasy worlds he's read about in novels. People in the magical world still poop, need to go to the store, get hangovers and are made cuckolds. School is hard, friends abandon him, adventure doesn't seek him out, he drinks too much, he graduates from his magical school and starts doing drugs, and when adventure finally arrives it's frightening and without glory for those who live.

I was so excited reading it that I was almost scared to finish it. The last time I got this excited about a book while I was in the middle of it I was left disappointed because I expected so much from the end. (The Gone Away World)

It's one of my favorite books of the year. This book will make friends out of the side of you that secretly (or not so secretly) love Harry Potter and the part of you that rebukes your love.

Reina:
Still on La Casa de los Espíritus, but this time I'm on page 30 and am missing about half of the words. (Two weeks ago it was page 20, missing one-fourth of the words....) I've only read it on about four morning bus rides a week - I think I need to set aside some more reading time. What did they call it in elementary school... DEAR? Drop Everything And Read. Ahh, those were the days. I had a lot of Sour Cream & Onion Munch 'ems at snack time.