Twisted Fairy Tales, The Martian Chronicles, Wither

I'm getting better about reading more often. I think it's a combination of being exhausted after waitressing and wanting nothing more than reading for two hours in the peaceful quiet of my own bed and also the beautiful weather outside making me want to soak up some rays while devouring a book. 

I finished Twisted Fairy Tales by Maura McHugh a few days ago in the sun in my backyard. I love creepy fairy tales (also it's YA, quelle surprise) which is why I loved this book. Despite the stories being well known, I think many of the stories were original. The illustrations were also pretty awesome. Many of the stories are classics such as Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty, but there are lesser known fairy tales, too, which was good, too.
 The Snow White story was exactly like that K-Stew movie that came out a year or so ago, Snow White and the Huntsman, which seemed weird to me.

The only thing that drove me crazy was the editing - I found several typos throughout (but I'm a freak about it).  If that sort of thing doesn't bother you, this is a great book for a beach read.The stories are short, yet creepy enough that you'll find yourself thinking about certain grisly scenes later on.

 I also just finished The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I know it's a classic, but somehow I just got around to reading it. Previously, my favorite Bradbury book was The Illustrated Man.
I love anything Bradbury writes, so naturally I was sucked right into The Martian Chronicles.  This book is for anyone who loves sci-fi. And Bradbury's choice of details always astounds me. I love the portrayal of the martians as a peaceful people invaded by humans. Every story leaves me wanting more, which I think is the most important thing about a short story.








I'm currently reading Wither by Laura DeStefano, which is a YA fluff read for me. I surprisingly haven't even noticed a typo yet. The story is dystopian YA lit (obviously). The plot revolves around Rhine, a sixteen year old girl, who lives in a futuristic America  where men don't live past the age of twenty-five and women only live until the age of twenty due to a viral infection. Because of the sharp decline in the population and because of the massive amounts of doctors who are researching for an antidote to this virus, young, pretty girls are swiped off the streets and sold into wifery by wealthy families. Rhine is one of these girls. Pulled off the street with thirty other girls and chosen with just two others, she is sold to a wealthy family and her new husband (and two sister wives) have to deal with being treated as property.

It's a pretty fascinating premise and I'm loving it. The only problem is that there are three of these books, so now that I'm sucked in, I have two more books to read afterwards. SIGH. This is an issue because I have at least six books waiting at home to be read next.

Personal Librarian

I just found this awesome story at Bookriot.com (excellent source of all things bookish) and I think that's the job I need to have. It's like having a personal shopper, but better because a personal librarian can bring you actual happiness. I would even hand deliver the books if this was a profitable enough business.

So who wants to pay me to pick out books for them now and forevermore? It's my dream job.

Also, I wanted to share this little mentalfloss tidbit! I love going to mentalfloss.com because it always makes me smile and this article is no different.

There are so many words we don't have in English that we should have! I love the French phrase "l'esprit de l'escalier" which mentalfloss translates as "a too-late retort thought of only after departure".   I also loved "Koi No Yokan" the Japanese phrase for "the sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love." Who knew the Japanese were so romantic?

Girls in White Dresses and The Dinner

So first of course I have to begin with apologies for being so lax in updating.. yet again. Excuses don't matter really, but I did go on vacation to Coachella where I saw some incredible bands (I mean OMD, Phoenix, Pretty Lights, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vampire Weekend, Sigur Ros, Social Distortion, Violent Femmes, FOALS, Wu Tang incredible!!) and then I started a new job waitressing. So yay for more money and boo for hardly no time to myself at all. (Also waitressing is hard work and I have more than a few good stories already, which is cool) 

Anyways, I read a few books in that time, which you'll be glad to hear about. 

I read The Dinner by Herman Koch. It's an interesting story about two brothers and their sons, revolving around a dinner between the two brothers and their wives at a very posh restaurant in Holland. The book is separated into sections from aperatif to digestif. The details are great and I loved how Herman Koch created and developed his characters. The characters are dynamic, especially our main character. I loved it and I think you will, too. 

I also just read Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close yesterday. It was such a quick read I finished it in a matter of hours. I was sick on my day off (naturally) and started reading this and just didn't stop. It's much less of a girly book than I thought it would be. I thought it would be light and fluffy and it was not. It dealt with reality and I liked that. Also I felt like the characters in the book could be my own friends, which I always appreciate in any novel. 

I promise I'll update again soon when I finish Twisted Fairy Tales by Maura McHugh!