Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Reading Round-Up: Midsummer Edition

If the first quarter of the year was mystery reading time, then second quarter reading was definitely steeped in fantasy. I haven't actually planned to get so "into" certain types of reading each quarter; it's just the way things have worked out so far this year!

Here are a few notes on my reading from the second quarter. Links are to my full-length reviews on Epinions.

April/May/June reading was steeped in C.S. Lewis for me, though his name won't show up on my list of "books read." That's because I've been reading chapters and essays from a number of books about Lewis (in addition to reading some more by him that I've not finished yet). I plan to do a whole Lewisian post soon, with titles of some of the wonderful things I've been reading and re-reading. One of my favorites, and a book I did finish this spring, is A Reader's Guide to Caspian: A Journey Into C.S. Lewis's Narnia by Leland Ryken and Marjorie Lamp Mead. Ryken and Mead, both respected Lewis scholars/teachers/researchers, have created a wonderful "guided tour" into the second book of the Chronicles (they've also written one for LWW, which I've not read yet) that I think would be particularly rich for high school and college aged students.

My second quarter reading was colored by the last leg of my re-read of the entire Harry Potter series, especially the final three volumes. I'd not read Deathly Hallows since the summer it came out (when I read through it once at top-speed in the days after its release, then read it aloud to my husband, our tradition) and the book felt incredibly fresh to me as a result. I'd forgotten parts of it, and reading it right on the heels of Half-Blood Prince was marvelous. I've loved it from the start, but I was moved on much deeper levels than I expected upon this read-through. I also finished Travis Prinzi's excellent Harry Potter & Imagination, which I've not yet reviewed but still want to. It's very thoughtful: not only full of insights into HP (particularly Rowling's inclusion of social justice issues) but into the Christian fantasy tradition in general.

By the way: total HP side note/rabbit trail, but did you know that when you enter Dumbledore's name in an anagram generator, one of the many fascinating things it turns up is "BOLD DEMURE"? Fun!

Second quarter also found me reading George MacDonald's The Lost Princess; Shannon, Dean and Nathan (no relation) Hale's Rapunzel's Revenge (a graphic novel); and N.D. Wilson's 100 Cupboards. I was less taken with Cupboards than I expected to be (perhaps my expectations were too high) but am looking forward to finding and reading the sequel, which I hear is even better.

One of the most pleasant surprises of my reading spring was my ability to get, via inter-library loan, the first novel in Regina Doman's young adult fairy-tale/fantasy series, The Shadow of the Bear. A contemporary re-telling of Grimm's Snow White and Rose Red, it's darker and more thrilling than I expected, just a terrific read from start to finish.

Spring felt like just the right time to read Linda Sue Park's mid-grade novel Keeping Score, the story of a young Brooklyn girl in the 1950s and her deep love for the Dodgers. I had what felt like some personal associations with the story-line, but it would have been a gem in any respect.

Spring was also just the right time to enjoy John Yow's recently released book of essays: The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Life of Familiar Birds. If you know any devoted backyard birders, this would be a great gift book. The essays are witty and stuffed with good research as well as careful observations. Conversational in tone, the kind of book you like to read on a porch or on a blanket at the park -- with your binoculars handy.

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