Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Silver Pencil

This gentle story about the author's youth in Trinidad, England, America, and Canada in the early 20th century feels a bit dated, but I enjoyed re-reading it nonetheless.  It's a gentle, quiet story, but I found the main character and the settings compelling enough to keep me interested.  It's not amazing, but if you're looking for a soft story about life as a British colonial, it's worth checking out.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Elements of Style

During my travels, I happened upon an illustrated edition of William Strunk and E.B. White's Elements of Style, a book I've felt I should have read for a while now, and between my sense of duty and the handsome illustrations by Maira Kalman, I felt I simply couldn't resist purchasing this book.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was an easy and pleasant read--I tend to forget how much I enjoy reading about grammar!  While I don't agree with all of the rules and suggestions laid out here, on the whole I consider this to be a very useful, handy little book for anyone wishing to write in good English.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

After reading her more recent collection of short stories, I decided to read Karen Russell's first collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.  (What a great title!)  I did not, however, enjoy this collection as much as I enjoyed Vampires in the Lemon Grove.  I felt that most of the stories in St. Lucy's were darker than those in Vampires and the elements of strangeness were also darker and more depressing.  Moreover, most of the stories didn't quite feel finished to me, somehow; I was often left feeling confused about what the point of the story was.  However, they were interesting and well-written, which kept me reading them.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Vampires in the Lemon Grove

Since reading (and being engrossed in) Swamplandia! and hearing Karen Russell at a reading and q-&-a a couple of months ago, I've been meaning to check out her two previously-published collections of short stories. Although I generally prefer novels to short stories, I found myself enjoying this collection, on the whole. Most of all, I really appreciated the strangeness in so many of these stories, from a vampire hooked on lemons to a veteran's extraordinary tattoo (I was reminded by this especially of Roald Dahl's short story "Skin" and in general the collection reminded me vaguely of Dahl's short stories for adults) and beyond. Anyone with a taste for the unusual (and for well-written stories) should definitely take a look at this collection. 

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Ropemaker

This young adult fantasy novel by prolific author Peter Dickinson was definitely worth re-reading. Although it's rather predictable in some of its plot and character elements, there are also a few unique aspects that make it a more interesting read than a cookie-cutter novel of this genre. This novel held my interest pretty well all the way through and was a solid magical adventure story. 

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Artemis Fowl Series

I have read every book in this series by Irish author Eoin Colfer at least once before, except for the most recent and final installment, which was released in 2012. I decided I ought to do the thing properly and re-read the first seven books, most of which I haven't read recently, before tackling the last book. And I'm definitely glad I decided to re-read, partly because I'd forgotten much of the content of the previous books, partly because I love to read book series, and largely because I find this particular series to be both well-written and enjoyable. Although many of the secondary (or even primary but slightly less important) characters are not so dynamic, Artemis (the main character, unsurprisingly) is really allowed to grow and develop over the course of the novels, which is one of my favorite aspects of the series. My main complaint, which is fairly minor, is that the series lacks an overarching story line, instead being comprised of a series of eight adventures that are not so connected to each other aside from sharing the same cast of heroes. I really appreciate, however, the humor that Colfer so liberally includes in his writing and which is, I feel, a major perk to this series. This series is definitely a worthwhile read, especially if you're looking for something a bit lighter.