The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Title: The Marvelous Land of Oz

Author: L. Frank Baum

Pages: 320

Finished: 2/27/17

First Sentence: In the Country of the Gillikins, which is at the north of the Land of Oz, lived a youth called Tip.

Summary: Tip runs away from his life with the old witch Mombi along with his friend Jack Pumpkinhead and his trusty steed the sawhorse, more or less. They travel to the Emerald City where all the girls in Oz are leading a revolt to depose the Scarecrow. Tip, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Saw Horse, T.E. Wogglebug H.M, the Tin Woodman, and the Gump must find a way to get their city back.

Thoughts: The first book was more ridiculous than I remembered. This was was more ridiculous still. I suppose as I'm pushing 30, I'm a bit out of the intended age group for this book, and it shows. I also was not a fan of the characterization of Glinda the Good. In the first book, she seemed very regal. In this one, she didn't feel as regal.

Some notes: 1. The Scarecrow mentions that Glinda is now the master of the flying monkeys. In the previous book, she explains to Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Woodman, and the lion that she's going to use the cap to get the trio to their respective places and then give the cap to the monkeys so they can be free.

2. Apparently, Baum has a thing against puns. So much vitriol against some very funny puns. I feel like it's probably social commentary on a fashion at the time that I am not going to take the time to look up.

3. Ozians know about our form of money? Obviously they flew across the desert and into our world. And the jackdaws lined their next with fives and tens and twenties etc.

4. For the future, the Gump head supposedly continues to talk.

5. For the future, the Scarecrow is stuffed with money still at the end of the book.

Moonheart by Charles de Lint

Title: Moonheart

Author: Charles de Lint

Pages: 446

Finished: 2/19/17

First Sentence: Sara Kendell once read somewhere that the tale of the world is like a tree.

Summary: Sara finds a medicine bag in the back of her uncle's shop one day. Meanwhile, Kieran's mentor has disappeared, John Tucker - a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - is part of a paranormal investigative project, and Jamie Tams is discovering his house seems to have a bit of a life of it's own. All stories begin to intertwine as the characters discover their paths in a story weaving the myths of the ancient Celts with those of the ancient Native Americans.

Thoughts: I really wanted to like this. I've loved the other de Lint books I've read, and assumed this would be just as awesome. I finished the book to see the story to the end, but it was a slog. The best parts were Tamson House itself. I could have read an entire book on that. Overall, I felt the book was just too slow with perhaps too many threads that were handled a little too clumsily. Much like that previous sentence I just wrote. 

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Title: The Jungle Book

Author: Rudyard Kipling

Pages: 303

Finished: February 7, 2017

First Sentence: It was seven o’clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee hills when Father Wolf woke up from his day’s rest, scratched himself, yawned, and spread out his paws one after the other to get rid of the sleepy feeling in their tips.

Summary: It's difficult to summarize this book as it's really a collection of short stories. The first three follow our friend Mowgli. In the first one, we hear how he came to be in the jungle, and how he was ousted from the pack. The second story tells of his abduction by the monkeys. The third tells of how he came to the man village and how he killed Shere Khan. Following Mowgli's chapters are four other stories. One involves a white seal who spends the first seven years of his life looking for a place where he and his brethren can live without worrying about seal catchers. The next is the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a mongoose who battles cobras in an Indian bungalow. Following that is the story of Toomai, a young boy who helps catch elephants for the army. The book ends with a story about the animals in the army discussing their various tasks.

Thoughts: If your only experience with The Jungle Book is with one of the four Disney movies, this book will surprise you. Now, I've been told there is a second Jungle Book with more Mowgli stories, so perhaps some of the things I was looking for are in those. But this book was missing many things that I wsa looking for. For example, King Louie doesn't exist. And Kaa is mostly interested in the monkies. ALSO, in almost all the movies, Baloo is lazy while Baghera is the one to take Mowgli's education in hand. That's reversed in the books.

Overall, I enjoyed the stories. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was by far my favorite, primarily because we used to watch a cartoon version of this that, I believe, was word for word accurate with the dialogue! 

February's Reads

I had originally planned on taking February easy as it's only 28 days long, but various circumstances led me to grab six books to read for February. From top to bottom:

Moonheart by Charles de Lint - Personal Reading Challenge Fantasy
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman - Personal Reading Challenge Fantasy
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - Personal Reading Challenge To Be Read List
The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum - Wizard of Oz Challenge
The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey - Retellings Challenge
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling - Classics Challenge Book about Animals

I couldn't decide between the De Lint and the Gaiman for the Fantasy portion of my personal challenge, so I decided to read them both. I had planned to save The Golem and the Jinni for later, but I found it misshelved in the kids section while closing the other day; I figured if the book was just going to fall into my lap like that, I might as well take it home.

Starting next month, I'll be adding even more books to each month's picture, as the Rebecca Caudill and Bluestem lists will be out. Happy Reading Everyone!