Book Reviews by Today, I Read…

Back Cover of The Last Unicorn

The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone…

…so she ventured out from the safety of the enchanted forest on a quest for others of her kind. Joined along the way by the bumbling magician Schmendrick and the indomitable Molly Grue, the unicorn learns all about the joys and sorrows of life and love before meeting her destiny in the castle of the despondent monarch—and confronting the creature that would drive her kind to extinction.

Three Quick Points About The Last Unicorn

• Point 1: Nature plays a large role. The textures, the aromas, and the sounds all center around the things that grow and thrive in nature; shifting from air to sea to fire to earth to metal, and sometimes intermingling.
• Point 2: The unicorn is rather vain, but in such a way that her vanity seems justified. Throughout the text we’re reminded that the unicorn is the most beautiful creature, much of which is her own musing, and when she’s turned human, she’s incredibly distraught because she’s mortal and dying, and therefore no longer beautiful.
• Point 3: This book is a musical without the sheet music. If anyone had any doubts that Mr. Beagle enjoys writing lyrics, hand them this book. Just about everyone sings something at some point, ranging from the silly and nonsensical to the melancholy.

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Happy Tuesday! It’s time again for another edition of Teaser Tuesdays…

Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
• You also need to share the title of the book where you get your teaser from…that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given
• Please avoid spoilers

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It’s Thursday and you know what that means…another edition of Booking Through Thursday is here. This week’s question is:

Do you read any author’s blogs? If so, are you looking for information on their next project? On the author personally? Something else?

I do read author blogs. It’s mainly just to see what they think about, how they write, and glean any valuable insights they may be willing to dispense. And sometimes an author’s blog is just downright hilarious.

Basically, since I enjoy writing, it interests me to see how others approach the craft. Where inspiration comes from, what boundaries they set, what obstacles they overcame, and so forth. It’s rather voyeuristic, now that I think about it.

Happy Tuesday! It’s time again for another edition of Teaser Tuesdays…

Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
• You also need to share the title of the book where you get your teaser from…that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given
• Please avoid spoilers

Continue reading »

It’s Thursday and you know what that means…another edition of Booking Through Thursday is here. This week’s question is:

Have you ever been put off an author’s books after reading a biography of them? Or the reverse – a biography has made you love an author more?

I’m wracking my brain, but cannot come up with an instance of an author’s biography changing my view of his work.

It’s happened with music. Before learning of Liszt’s debauchery, his music sounded so different. I still enjoy it, it just has new meaning.

But a book? Oh wait, there’s Stephen King. After reading On Writing, which does touch on some of his boyhood experiences, I have read his work with a slightly different eye. But, it has not caused me to enjoy his writing more or less.

When it comes down to it, the only thing that should matter when it comes to books is whether or not your enjoy what’s between the two covers. I may read it with new eyes, but it still boils down to whether or not I enjoy it.

(Thought I should add that I’m speaking in terms of fiction here. If we’re talking non-fiction, then the author’s biography or bias could greatly influence whether or not I read more of that author’s books in the future.)