37 - read 20 new books (5/20)

"alice in wonderland" - lewis carroll. ***1/2

ok so i knew it was going to be nonsensical but i kind of expected to extract something a bit deeper from it... some bits made sense from a social commentary point of view, but other bits were very puzzling, which i guess they were supposed to be, which i guess was the point of that letter in the courtroom chapter. i liked the puns and the mock turtle. though i don't get why in the illustration he had hoofs...

i enjoyed the ride and didn't really mind feeling like a fool at the end of it. will be watching the tim burton 'sequel', despite not winning that trip to the london premiere.

37 - read 20 new books (4/20)

"oliver twist" - charles dickens **

i totally loved great expectations so i figured i would love long drawn out dickensian tales of destruction and redemption in general, but i just really didn't connect with this oliver fellow. it was soooo sentimental, oliver was so good to the core but just extremely unlucky and lucky and unlucky and lucky in turn... i mean, good social commentary blah blah blah, but overall it felt really simple and not that interesting. i really struggled to get through it. i felt so tempted to just watch the movie and be done with it, but then i would feel like a cheat, not much better than the heartless scoundrels in the bleak novel.

i'm glad i read it, but it was literally a marathon effort - you don't enjoy it, but you're proud you finished alive.

37 - read 20 new books (3/20)

"perfect grammar" - penguin guide to english grammar & punctuation ***
a friend gave me this little pocket edition a few weeks ago because she knew how much i loved correct (and correcting) grammar and punctuation. it was a good overview of the basic parts of speech, sentence structure and common errors (that that iiiii made any of them heh heh) although because it was such a concise book there weren't enough examples of the more complex aspects of grammar to help you understand. my head hurt - i hadn't thought of phrases as nouns or verbs as adjectives before... a good refresher in many ways but i doubt i would be changing my speech as a result.

37 - read 20 new books (2/20)

"George's Marvellous Medicine" - Roald Dahl
** 1/2 interesting, but i don't like reading lists much so it lost half a star.

good to know i have approval to continue indulging my inner child. you may be wondering, 'why roald dahl?' well, apart from his sheer brilliance and the delightful associations with my childhood, it's because we have a discounted books catalogue at work and i recently bought the box set of 15 for around $50. i shall treasure them for ever.

i thought this book was a little rude actually :P i mean, sure grandma was an unrepentant meanie, and there was a disclaimer about how most grannies are actually sweet old ladies, but it still seemed a little harsh. oh well, i guess she brought it on herself.

37 - read 20 new books (1/20)

'The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me' - Roald Dahl.
*** very amusing.

is it cheating if i read kids' books? i am arguing that the genius of roald dahl is for all ages, thus it is not...

anyway, i just read 'the giraffe, the pelly and me'. it's about a super-efficient magical window-cleaning company and a boy with dreams of owning the best sweets shop in the world (admirable aspirations).

i wonder how much roald dahl influenced jk rowling?