Reading Update

The Red Badge of Courage, by Crane

I think this is the most musing book I've ever read. Most of it happened in the protagonist's head. And most of it was lengthy discourses with himself about the nature of bravery. I think I'd need to read it again to get a better opinion.

 

Shaper, by Haas

This one was fascinating. It's the story of a boy who blames his family for the death of his dog. The new neighbors that move in are animal trainers. The good kind, who really know their stuff. I was impressed with how well the book worked that into the story, and it was a good story too.

Black Horses for the King, by McCaffrey

A different sort of King Arthur story. Because no one thinks about needing special horses to carry knights in their heavy, shining armor.

The Bald Eagle, by Davis

An amazing history of the US's national bird. 

 

The Last Monster, by Garrett

A story of a girl who becomes the guardian of the world's monsters. She has a sad history, but learns to be a good guardian. 

Trail to Heaven, by Ridington

The author spent a long time with the Dunne-za people (from an area known today as Canada). This book does a great job teaching about their culture, and special people like the Dreamers.

 

Ishi: Last of his Tribe, by Kroeber

The story of the last Yahi man, after the rest of his people were wiped out. Some of them managed to live in hiding for a while, but when Ishi was the last, he came down out of the mountains and ended up as more or less a living museum exhibit. I've heard some mixed things about how he was really treated by the museum. It was a good book though.

 

My Neighbor Totoro, by Kubo

I was amazed to discover that there was a novelization of the movie. Apparently it was only translated into English somewhat recently. Some of the book was quite different than the movie. Even the finale of finding Mei. It was cool to have some more pieces to the story. Like I never considered that the guy that helps them move in at the beginning is the uncle! And the girls go back to visit their family for a little while.

The Return of the Wolf, by Grooms

A great book about the history of wolves in the US. 

 

The Odyssey, by Homer

I read (at least most of) this book in school. But it was so long ago that I only remembered bits and pieces. I completely forgot that the actual journey is a small section of the book. Odysseus is telling people what happened to him during the ten years he was lost at sea. Much more of the book is about getting revenge on the suitors.

 

In Europe, I bought a bunch of books about the sites I visited. When I got home, I had plenty of time to read up on the locations and art I'd seen. I'll lump all of these together. And all of them are about as bland as you can get. It's like the authors were trying to take all of the excitement out of some amazing places and history. For example, for the museum books they'll have little blurbs about some of the artwork. And it will say the year it was made, who made it, what's it's made of, and the fact that it has an amazing use of light or color, etc. But it doesn't give the art any life.