Progress Report

Goodness! Gone with the Wind has been an absolute slog. But I am proud to say I finally finished Part 1!! Things are FINALLY starting to pick up. Current goal is 150 pages a week which should get me through the book by the end of May.

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum

Title: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

Author: L. Frank Baum

Pages: 148

Finished: 4/30/17

First Sentence: The train from 'Frisco was very late.

Summary: While traveling to meet her Uncle Henry in California, Dorothy, her friend Zeb, their horse Jim, and Dorothy's kitten named Eureka fall into the Earth during an earthquake. They alight in the land of the Mangaboos, unfeeling vegetable people. There they meet up with the Wizard and set off on a new adventure involving invisible bears, wooden gargoyles, and some dragonettes.

Thoughts: While I don't like this one as much as Ozma of Oz, I did enjoy it. I also really remember this one, which suggests I read it more than once before. I remember being particularly struck by the Mangaboos and the Invisible Valley (the name of which I don't remember). Eureka is not my favorite character. In fact, I can safely say she is my least favorite character in the series up 'til now. Baum warned us about her in his note at the beginning, but I still disliked her intensely.

Some notes:

Continuity Error? Ozma relates that Mombi was the jailor since Ozma's grandfather and the Wizard had no idea. But in Return to Oz, the Wizard had met with Mombi three times according to Glinda's book re: the boy Tip.

Ozma laughing at the weeping Munchkin after the boxing match felt cruel to me. Unless the idea was that the Munchkin was being a wuss? In which case my 21st century sensibilities still say it's cruel.

I'm not going to look it up, but I do wonder what trial was happening at the time this book was written. It seemed an odd addition to the novel otherwise.

May Reads

1. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - Back to the Classics
2. Soar by Joan Bauer - Bluestem Challenge
3. Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova - Caudill Challenge
4. The Wild Robot by Peter Brown - Bluestem Challenge
5. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor - Caudill Challenge
6. The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum - Oz Challenge

One adult book this month. Carry over from last month. I'm only 100 pages in, or according to Goodreads, 9% through it. Woof. My mom is enjoying it though. Hopefully things will start to pick up! As before, I plan on reading Gone With the Wind Tuesday through Friday and the rest of the books Saturday through Monday.