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I just wanted to add this book to my library, after thinking about it this morning.I read it several years ago and cannot remember enough to review it. It was a hilarious undertaking though and brought many hours of mirth into a often very busy, stressful existence.Rapunzel takes matters in to her own hands; Sleeping Beauty is now known as The Sleeping Person of Better Than Average Attractiveness; Rudolph is recognized as A Nasally Empowered Reindeer; Frosty The Snowman becomes Frosty the Persun of SnowThe author introduced the book by saying: "When they were first written, the stories on which the following tales are based certainly served their purpose-to entrench the patriarchy, to enstrange people from their own natural impulses, to demonize "evil and to "reward" and "objective" "good". However, much as we would like to, we cannot blame the Brother's Grimm for their insensitivity to womyn's issues, minority cultures, and the environment. Likewise, in the self-righteous Copenhagen of Hans Christian Anderson, the alienable rights of mermaids were hardly given a second thought.Today, we have the opportunity--and the obligation--to rethink these "classic"stories so they reflect more enlightened times. To that effort I submit this humble book. While its original title, Fairy Stories For A Modern World, was abandoned for obvious reasons (kudos to my editor for pointing out my heterosexualist bias), I think the collection stands on its own. This, however, is just a start. Certain stories, such as"The Ugly Duckling That Was Judged on Its Personal Merits and Not on Its Physical Appearance", were deleted for space reasons. I expect I have volumes left in me, and I hope this book sparks the righteous imaginations of other writers and, of course, leaves an indelible mark on our children.If, through omission or commission, I have inadvertently displayed any sexist, racist, culturalist, nationalist, regionalist, ageist, lookist, ableist, sizeist, speciesist, intellectualist, heteropatriachalist, or other type of bias as yet annamed, I apogize and encourage your suggestions for rectification. In the quest to develop meaningful literature that is totally free from bias and purged from the influence of its flawed cultural past, I doubtless have made some mistakes. You get the drift? I loved it. For everything it stood for, and just realized that growing old is destiny, but growing up is optional, and all of us in between need our own fairy tales told our own way :-))Satire. Skip it if you dare not like it. And I'm happy to know I never grew up, thank goodness! It was great to meet our childhood favorites in the adult word. The sales of these books went through the roof after the publication date. So yes, I don't feel alone at all in memory of this collection of stories. It's for grown-up kids. Rather leave innocent kiddies out of it. :-))

Enjoy the dazzling adventures of film director Luc Besson's Arthur and the Minimoys and Arthur and the Forbidden City together for the first time. Join Arthur as he embarks on a journey to the land of the Minimoys, a tribe of people less than one inch tall, to find his missing grandfather and a stolen treasure. Arthur joins two Minimoy friends on a trip to the forbidden city of Necropolis, where they battle the evil wizard Maltazard. Now a major motion picture brought to life by Luc Besson himself!

Roddy Doyle's fabulous sequel to the New York Times best seller THE GIGGLER TREATMENT . . . now in paperback! Rudolph the reindeer is being a pain. He only has to work one day a year and what does he do? He calls in sick! Enter Rover, the only dog with the smarts, talent, good looks, and charms to be a sub. Rover's about to take Santa on the ride of his life -- and readers get to come along.

In the fall of 1918, a world ravaged by four years of war was suddenly hit by a mysterious and deadly plague—the “Spanish Flu.” The illness struck not only the young and the elderly, but also people in the prime of their lives, advancing rapidly toward mortality in its victims. This phenomenon in effect brought the terror, the panic, the horror and the sense of helplessness of the Great War home with the returning soldiers—more people died of this epidemic than had been killed in battle throughout the armed conflict.As fear of the dreaded flu begins to fill the town of Unity with paranoia, drastic measures are taken. The town is quarantined in an attempt to keep the illness out. Trains are forbidden to stop, no one can enter, and the borders are sealed. Mail from overseas, feared to be carrying the deadly virus, is gathered and then burned. But when the disease descends upon the town despite their precautions, the citizens begin to turn on each other as they attempt to find a scapegoat for the crisis.Very little has been written about this worldwide calamity which, more than the war itself, destroyed forever the genteel and naive presumptions of European colonial society at the beginning of the twentieth century. Kevin Kerr offers audiences not only an epic chronicle of this forgotten chapter of Canadian history, but a chilling preview of the beginnings of our own new century.The play is a gothic romance, filled with dark comedy and the desperate embrace of life at the edge of death.

Journey is eleven the summer his mother leaves him and his sister, Cat, with their grandparents. He is sad and angry, and spends the summer looking for the clues that will explain why she left.Journey searches photographs for answers. He hunts family resemblances in Grandma's albums. Looking for happier times, he tries to put together the torn pieces of the pictures his mother shredded before her departure. And he also searches the photographs his grandfather takes as the older man attempts to provide Journey with a past. In the process, the boy learns to look and finds that, for him, the camera is a means of finding things his naked eye has missed--things like inevitability of his mother's departure and the love that still binds his family.

Louise Shaffer brings to life three generations of Italian American women in this stunning novel of surprises, secrets, and serendipity.A child of theatrical royalty, Carrie Manning is having a hard time getting her own act together. Thirty-seven, aimless, and having just buried a famous mother she never understood, she is desperate to uncover her family’s mysterious past in the hopes that it will help her understand herself.Carrie’s search reveals the fascinating life stories of her estranged grandmother Lu, a glamorous Broadway star whose dreams came with a price; her great grandmother Mifalda, who gave up everything to come to America as a sixteen-year-old Italian bride; and her father, Bobby, the charismatic Broadway genius who wrote some of Lu’s greatest musicals and died tragically young. At the heart of Carrie’s discoveries lies the reason for her mother’s complicated life, and a dark secret that has been buried for thirty years.

The Catcher in the Rye with a French accent. Even if it blows your mind, I want to tell you about this unbelievable thing that happened to me last year. I’m not bragging, but things as unbelievable as the one I’m going to tell you about don’t happen every day, I swear. In fact, they never happen.Thus begins Julien Parme, by bestselling French author Florian Zeller, who makes his American debut with this account of the trials and illusions of a bright, rebellious 14-year-old boy. The product of divorce, young Julien is not blending in so well with his blended family. One night, he escapes the family apartment to see where destiny and his stepfather’s credit card will take him. His long, dark night of the soul includes several stops at parties and cafes during which the reader is treated to a running monologue of hilarious and rueful observations. Zeller perfectly captures the sweet sincerity and innocent grandiosity of youth. Julien sees himself not as a troubled teen, but as a modern-day Don Quixote, defending his honor, righting wrongs and achieving everlasting fame. Dawn breaks and Julien stands on a platform, intending to catch a train bound for Italy. He thinks about the mountain climber who reached the summit of Mount Blanc, but knew his destiny was to climb back down eventually. And so Julien climbs into a taxi and returns home, hoping his mother will forgive him for being who he is rather than some more perfect person.“You can’t put the book down until the very end. . . . Florian Zeller proves that he is a true writer capable of varying genres and tones.” —Paris Match“It is without a doubt his best book.” —Le Monde

L'envers et l'endroit est le premier livre d'Albert Camus. Il paraît à Alger en 1937. À la fin de sa vie, Camus verra dans cette œuvre de jeunesse la source secrète qui a alimenté ou aurait dû alimenter tout ce qu'il a écrit. L'envers et l'endroit livre l'expérience, déjà riche, d'un garçon de vingt-deux ans : le quartier algérois de Belcourt et le misérable foyer familial dominé par une terrible grand-mère ; un voyage aux Baléares, et Prague, où le jeune homme se retrouve «la mort dans l'âme» ; et surtout, ce thème essentiel : «l'admirable silence d'une mère et l'effort d'un homme pour retrouver une justice ou un amour qui équilibre ce silence

Antonia--"Ant" for short--has a lot of problems: Her mom adores her two blonde, ballerina sisters, but is constantly exasperated with the "nut-brown," non-dancing Ant. Her dad keeps quitting perfectly good jobs and moving the family across the country. Her entire family hates her dog. And on top of all that, a concerned art teacher has starting investigating why Ant insists that she's adopted and her real family is coming back for her any day. The question that nobody can seem to answer is: does Antonia's mom ignore her because Antonia causes so much trouble, or does Antonia cause so much trouble because her mom ignores her? Notes From a Liar and Her Dog is a little bit like an older, more complex spin on the Ramona books, in that Ant is always getting into scrapes due to her in ability to communicate clearly with adults. But Choldenko writes with her own distinct voice, in a style that is both funny and thoughtful at the same time. Even though most people, at one time or another, have been in a relationship with a family member, friend, or partner where everything that is said is misunderstood, and it seems impossible to ever get things back to normal--even though almost everyone has had this experience, it can be hard to describe how that situation plays out and how it feels, because it's so inexplicable to the person experiencing it. Choldenko does an amazing job of capturing the frustration and murkiness of that situation, with all the complexity of a mother-daughter relationship tangled up in it. Recommended for moms who are out of patience with their kids and kids who are out of patience with their moms. Also recommended for art teachers and very small dogs.Five stars.

In this splendid novel, Celeste finds herself engaged to Alex, a wealthy man whose standards are as exacting as her own -- or so she thought. As she begins to question their relationship and herself, Celeste is haunted by painful memories: of her past in well-heeled, blue-blooded Connecticut; of the friends and family who seem to have disappeared from her life; and of Nathan, for whom Celeste still carries a lingering passion. At last coming to terms with the lies and illusions that have propelled her forward for years, Celeste must take responsibility for the choices she has made. She decides to be true to herself -- and so challenges her fiancé, her family, and the very society in which she's steeped.

I'm not going to lie, I was very excited to read this novel, mainly because of the relationship between the two women. It was a nice enough book, very pleasant to read. I was expecting a bit more storyline for the progression of the relationship, as it was very 'insta love'. They moved in together on the first day of meeting??? Who on earth would do that?This is the ultimate gay U-Haul story, fight me.--Anyways, here's some quotes:"Om hen heen wandelen moeders met kinderen, die zijn niet meer zien; zij kijken omhoog in het heldere, doorzichtige groen van de platanen: in de bevende blaadjes zien zij taferelen, die voorgoed uit de wereld zullen verdwijnen met hen. Al die herinneringen, die zich in dat lover daar hebben afgespeeld! Scènes in herenhuizen, in serres, op bal-masqués, op huwelijksreis in Baden-Baden! Onder dat dak van beelden was zij voorgoed ingesluimerd.""Het was zomer, dat wil zeggen een zomer in de jeugd, dus een warme zomer, een eindeloze warme dag daarin.""Ik geloof dat ik onder hypnose raakte. De stenen cataract onder mijn voorband kwam geleidelijk overeind en verticaal moest ik daar tegenop fietsen. Toen ik Leiden naderde, was het of ik stilstond en met mijn pedalen de hele aarde onder mij aan het rollen moest brengen.""Gelukkig is het geschrevene iets dat hoorbaar is zonder gehoord te hoeven worden. Zelfs het bescheidenste woordje dat ik neerschrijf, het woordje zwijgen bij voorbeeld, overstemt het inferno in die stenen put.""Het waren niet haar intelligentie en haar brede belangstelling, waarvan ik hield, maar datgene wat die eigenschappen niet bezat en evengoed wel had kunnen bezitten, - datgene wat overbleef als alles van haar afgetrokken werd, datgene wat ik bij de eerste oogopslag aan haar rug had gezien.""Op een avond legde zich een onbedaarlijke zonsondergang over het Leidseplein met de schouwburg, zoals ik nog niet eerder had gezien in de stad. De gebouwen en het verkeer werden opgetild naar een ademloos bestaan, waarin zij minutenlang veranderden in een sprookjesachtig proces. Dakramen zonden oranje signalen uit, tramrails werden van goud. Daar stond ik tussen en bewoog mij niet meer. Sylvia, dacht ik, Sylvia. Ik bleef staan tot alles belandde in een zacht violet, en toen plotseling teruggleed in het heldere grijs, waaruit het was voortgekomen.""Hoe lang wil ik blijven? Ik heb niets meer te melden." "In de kamer achter de mijne scharrelt de oude dame, tegenover mij staat het pausenpaleis; loodrecht onder mijn raam gaapt het gat als een wachtend graf. Ik kan eerder beneden zijn dan de echo van mijn schreeuw terug is van het paleis."--AssignmentTwee Vrouwen - Harry Mulisch Kies de passage uit het boek die jij het meest aangrijpend/indrukwekkend vond."Eenmaal ben ik van huis weggelopen, ik was tien jaar. Niet omdat er iets onaangenaams was gebeurd, of omdat de toestand mij op een andere manier bedrukte, maar omdat ik plotseling weg wilde, misschien was het een bepaalde geur in de lucht, of een witte stapelwolk aan de horizon. Ik haalde mijn fiets uit de schuur en fietste de stad door, richting zon, vastbesloten om nooit terug te komen.”Deze passage uit het boek Twee Vrouwen van Harry Mulisch had vrij veel indruk op mij. Ik vind de manier waarop Mulisch deze gebeurtenis omschrijft erg mooi en ook herkenbaar. Ik hield er enorm veel van dat Mulisch, ‘Weg’ als plek probeerde te vinden. Het was voor mij erg herkenbaar. Het gaat dieper dan even weg willen op vakantie.

"Move over, Dracula!" could the bunny "really" be a vampire? The Monroes found him in a movie theater while "Dracula" was playing. Now all their vegetables are turning white! Chester, the Monroes' cat, sets out to save the world from the vampire bunny. Harold the dog tries to stop Chester before it's too late! And the rest, as they say, is history.In the twenty-five years since the publication of Deborah and James Howe's "Bunnicula," the book and its five sequels have become contemporary classics. Now the first three books are available in this handsome boxed set for the series's millions of fans.

With two novels and one short story collection published to overwhelming critical acclaim ("Monkeys takes your breath away," said Anne Tyler; "heartbreaking, exhilarating," raved the New York Times Book Review), Susan Minot has emerged as one of the most gifted writers in America, praised for her ability to strike at powerful emotional truths in language that is sensual and commanding, mesmerizing in its vitality and intelligence. Now, with Evening, she gives us her most ambitious novel, a work of surpassing beauty. During a summer weekend on the coast of Maine, at the wedding of her best friend, Ann Grant fell in love. She was twenty-five. Forty years later--after three marriages and five children--Ann Lord finds herself in the dim claustrophobia of illness, careening between lucidity and delirium and only vaguely conscious of the friends and family parading by her bedside, when the memory of that weekend returns to her with the clarity and intensity of a fever-dream. Evening unfolds in the rushlight of that memory, as Ann relives those three vivid days on the New England coast, with motorboats buzzing and bands playing in the night, and the devastating tragedy that followed a spectacular wedding. Here, in the surge of hope and possibility that coursed through her at twenty-five--in a singular time of complete surrender--Ann discovers the highest point of her life. Superbly written and miraculously uplifting, Evening is a stirring exploration of time and memory, of love's transcendence and of its failure to transcend--a rich testament to the depths of grief and passion, and a stunning achievement.

I LOVED this book!I actually made a goodreads account just so I could come in here and review this book!I read this book when I was maybe 8 to 10? That's when it came out and I got it at a scholastic book fair! And it has stuck with me all these years. It's such an amazing concept: A worm who eats words and then the object disappears from human existence forever!Especially because the worm fell into the care of a nerd who was picked on (like me). It really made me feel exceptional reading about this newfound power of self worth after (almost) destroying some very important things!I really think this book is a good read for EVERYONE and at 25 I just recommended it to my friend (who is a book lover and also 25!)Great book Mary Amato!

Ook ik zat wel eens in een park in Amsterdam in de zomer, en ik kan zeggen dat, zonder het te begrijpen, dit boek dat precies samenvat. Er is iets specifieks aan een park in Amsterdam in de zomer dat anders is dan een park in Leiden in de zomer, of een park in Amsterdam in de lente, of een plein in Amsterdam in de zomer. Wat dat iets precies is: het staat in dit boekje.Campert verhaalt van een Nederland dat ik toch vooral ken uit Nescio of Van Eeden. Een Nederland van wereldverbeteraars en heertjes, van dromerige kunstenaarstypes die nooit tot iets gaan komen, maar toch op z'n minst af en toe een dag lang de parken van de hoofdstad innemen, om daar een web van hoop, van pretentie en van Weltschmerz uit te tekenen.De eerste drie ofwat hoofdstukken zijn eigenlijk perfect. Het luchtige spel met de taal, de argeloos perfecte mix van melancholie en geluk - geplaatst dan nog in een milieu waarin die eigenlijk op hetzelfde neerkomen. Het is jammer dat Campert niet in dezelfde stijl doorschrijft. Het verwordt uiteindelijk net iets teveel tot een allegaartje, net iets te vrijblijvend om echt te beklijven.Maar gezien de lengte en de bij vlagen prachtige taal en het specifieke gevoel dat dit boekje oproept, kan ik het eenieder aanbevelen. Lees het eens op een zomerdag in een park in Amsterdam.

This may not be the worst book I've ever read, but it defiantly on the list. I extremely disliked how the author wrote this book. In each chapter there would be a new problem and Ulysses would solve it and they would then move onto a new island. It was like that for the whole story, a island, a new problem, and Ulysses always solved it. Also, even though I do realize that this is fiction, some of the things Ulysses did was impossible, even in this setting. Ulysses may be a hero, but he is not a god. Although he did have some help from the gods at times, it is physically impossible for a mortal man, Ulysses in this case, to lift a giant rock by himself and throw it to crush some of his enemies. I don't know if anyone I know will enjoy this book because I certainly didn't.

In the tradition of Lois Lowry's The Giver, Susan Butler's futuristic first novel tells the triumphant story of Leora's refusal to conform to the rigid rules set forth by a tyrannical government.Leora has a gift, and a secret. She can see things no one else can, but can only draw them with her one webbed hand. Several generations have passed since North America was struck by a meteor that changed life forever. Now, Leora lives safely locked inside the walls of Village Three. Only the guards and croptenders are allowed out, where the world is said to be undeveloped and dangerous. Leora's heard stories of the ferocious birmbas -- half bear, half gorilla -- that resulted from the meteor. Mutants cannot be trusted.But Leora herself is considered a "defective" with her hidden hand and gift. When she risks her life to free a baby birmba, she finds the courage to escape beyond the tyrannical walls without knowing what she may find.