Book 11 - The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle

"There has never been a world in which I was not known."

How do you write a review of your favorite book since childhood? How do you review a book that is such a part of you that you don't ever remember not knowing it? How do you express in words how much a book has impacted your life? This is the book that I have turned to in the darkest times of my life, when I needed solace and comfort. I would call this my guilty pleasure, but I have no guilt over this book. I unabashedly adore it.

The Last Unicorn sounds like it would be the title of the girliest book of all time - something full of rainbows, fairy princesses and butterflies. Well, there are a couple of princesses, and there is a talking butterfly, but this isn't your typical fairy tale. This is a fairy tale in the vein of The Princess Bride or Stardust - a little bit fractured.

This is the story of the Unicorn who is quite content to live out her immortal life in her forest forever while contemplating how beautiful she is. One day she overhears two huntsmen saying that Unicorns are long gone, if they ever existed at all. The Unicorn decides to step out into the world and determine if she truly is the last, or if the others are in hiding. On her journey, she encounters an incompetent magician, a feisty spinster, an evil king, and the obligatory handsome prince.

While the story is fine for children to read, a lot of the themes are very adult. It is a bittersweet tale, and when I was little, the end would always make me cry. Of course it's hard to find a Peter Beagle novel that won't make you cry.

"As for you and your heart and the things you said and didn't say, she will remember them all when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits."

Best line ever written.

In the last few years, Beagle published a sequel novella, Two Hearts. It is simply beautiful. If you enjoyed The Last Unicorn, you should definitely read Two Hearts. Also, if you ever get a chance to go to a Peter Beagle book reading, cancel all other plans and go. He is extremely nice.

Book 10 - The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book tells the story of Nobody Owens, whose family was murdered when he was an infant. Not a baby satisfied to be contained to a crib, young Bod crawled to the local graveyard at the time of the murders. He is then adopted by the ghosts of the graveyard. His primary caretaker is Silas, a mysterious figure who doesn't like the daytime. Bod is given the Freedom of the Graveyard, so he can walk through walls, and see in the dark crypts. However, if he leaves the graveyard, there is constantly the threat of being found by the man who murdered his family.

Each chapter is basically a short story. Years pass between the chapters, so the reader gets to see Bod grow up and want more freedom. Bod has adventures with Werewolves, Goblins, and other Ghouls. My favorite part was the chapter when Bod finally gets to go to the real world to go to school. I love how he deals with the school bullies.

I really enjoyed this book. I have enjoyed the other Neil Gaiman novels I have read: Coraline, Stardust, Neverwhere, & Good Omens. This is similar in tone to Coraline - very dark for a children's story. I especially love the first line, "There was a hand in the darkness and it held a knife." I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, but it may be too intense for very young readers.

Book 9 - Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously - Julie Powell

I am ridiculously slow on writing reviews because I finished this book weeks ago. Other than this cannonball read, I haven't written book reviews or term papers for at least 6 or 8 years. I still have my 10th grade English teacher snarking in my brain whenever I try to write anything, telling me that it's not good enough. Now, I am the same age that Julie Powell is in this book. I will hit the big 3-0 in August, and I'm probably having my own mini mid-life crisis. I'm trying to figure out when I started giving a shit about what people think of me. I never had that problem before. I guess that's why I joined roller derby, because everybody said I couldn't, shouldn't, or wouldn't do it!

Julie Powell is a low-level secretary who works in NYC. She answers the phone and takes citizen's comments on how the city should handle the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. The comments range from heartbreakingly sad to disturbingly stupid. She is constantly stressed out, and the only outlet for her stress is cooking. One particularly bad day, she blindly picks up ingredients from the market, and unconsciously has grabbed everything to make Julia Child's recipe for potato soup. That's when she comes up with the idea to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and write a blog about it. However, the blog slowly begins to take over her life. I enjoyed reading about how old-fashioned some of the recipes were, and how hard it was to track down some of the ingredients. It reminded me of when I wanted to make a raspberry tiramisu that Giada DeLaurentis made on The Food Network. I went to 5 different stores to track down all of the ingredients, and that damn tiramisu ended up costing about $35. But I had to make it, to prove that I could.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, and I thought it was cute. Not awe-inspiring literature, but enjoyable. I saw the movie first, then read the book. I enjoyed the movie more, but probably because I was more interested in the Julia Child parts than the Julie Powell parts. The Julie Powell in the book is more fun than the one in the movie. The one in the book is stubborn, swears a lot and has a deep-abiding love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I can relate.

Book 8 - Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing, and Hope In My Life As An Animal Surgeon - Dr. Nick Trout

Awww, look at the cover. How could you possibly NOT want to read this book???

When I decided to become a dog trainer, a lot of my family and friends said, "Why don't you just go to vet school?". As though those two professions are the same thing. I help with a dog's mind and behavior. Veterinarians help with what is physically wrong with the dog. Don't get me wrong, I toyed with the idea, but after reading this book, I'm glad I decided on training, not vet school. Let's face it, I'm awful at giving my dogs medicine. Pill Pockets may be the greatest invention of the last thousand years. I can't even trim my dog's nails! (Yes, I know, I'm a hypocrite...)

Dr. Trout tells the story of a typical day working as an animal surgeon. His day starts at 2:47 AM when he gets a call that there is a German Shepherd that needs emergency surgery for Bloat. Bloat is a condition, common in large breed dogs where their stomach basically twists and flips so it can't function. It has a high fatality rate. If you read Marley & Me *spoiler* that is how Marley died. *end spoiler*

Dr. Trout tells more stories of patients and owners, some of which are sad, and some of which are downright funny. He seems like the kind of guy that I could hang out with at a bar, exchanging weird pet owner stories. I could tell him about the lady at my store that was opening all of the bottles of doggy bath spray and holding them under the nose of her spoiled Pomeranian so he could, "pick the smell that he likes". I could also tell him about the lady who has a Schnauzer that lunges and bites when suddenly woken up, but she can't bear to kick him out of her bed, even after he bit her on the face! Let's face it, we're all nuts about our pets.

My favorite story in the book was just a quick paragraph, but it was funny and sad at the same time. Apparently, after a lady's precious kitty passed on, she had him professionally stuffed by a taxidermist. Well, a few months later she took him to the vet clinic because he had a chronic skin infection. Imagine that scene in the waiting room! If this lady ever comes into my store, she will inevitably find me to talk to - I attract Crazy Cat Ladies.

Dr. Trout also talks about important issues facing both veterinarians and pet owners today - the rising costs of veterinary services, the explosion of animal obesity, and the upside/downside of pet parents who get their information from the internet. I thought this book was very informative, but maybe a little too technical. I enjoyed it, and it was a quick read. Anyone considering a career in veterinary medicine should read this book, it was very candid.

Book 7 - Practical Demonkeeping - Christopher Moore

Yeah, I know....another Christopher Moore book. What can I say? I'm hooked!

Practical Demonkeeping is the story of the demon, Catch, and his mortal "master" Travis. Travis was a seminary student during the first World War, and he accidentally stumbled on Catch. When he became Catch's master, he was granted immortality and invulnerability. The catch (pun intended) is that the demon never leaves him and is constantly feeding. On people. That Travis cares about. One hundred years later, Travis and Catch travel to the town of Pine Cove, CA. Travis is plotting to get rid of Catch, and gets caught up in the drama of the residents of Pine Cove.

I've said this in a previous Moore review, but his most interesting characters tend to be the secondary ones. Gian Hen Gian, the king of the Djinn, is hunting Catch, but since he's been cooped up in a bottle for two thousand years, he has no concept of modern technology. He becomes obsessed with the Marx Brothers because he thinks Harpo is also a Djinn. When Augustus Brine, his mortal assistant, explains the concept of movies to him, "he felt like he had just raped the tooth fairy in front of a class of kindergartners."

This is Moore's first novel, and sometimes it shows. Don't get me wrong, it is still well written and a lot of fun, but it just isn't quite as good as Lamb, A Dirty Job, Bloodsucking Fiends, or You Suck. I am definitely planning to read some more Moore for my CBR. I'm dying to read Fool, and the third book in the vampire series, Bite Me, which comes out in April.

Book 6 - We Never Talk About My Brother - Peter S. Beagle

We Never Talk About My Brother is a short story collection by Peter S. Beagle. Beagle is most commonly known as the author of The Last Unicorn, which is my favorite book and movie in the history of forever. A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to go to a book signing and reading in Gadsden, Alabama of all places. Beagle read a couple of his short stories, one of which was "King Pelles the Sure" from this collection, and it is definitely my favorite. It is the story of a young, bored king who tires of just playing war and wants to start a real one. You know, just for kicks. Quickly the horrors of war catch up to him, and he learns the meaning of sacrifice and redemption. It is beautifully written, like all of his works, and probably the best anti-war story ever told. It was hard to listen to it being told and not bust out crying in the middle of the book reading. Beagle himself broke down towards the end.

"The Tale of Junko and Sayuri" was my other favorite of the collection. Think MacBeth in Feudal Japan. It is the story of a lowly hunter who quickly moves up the ranks in the palace due to his wife who can take the form of animals.

"We Never Talk About My Brother" was the story of two brothers, one of whom has the power to make anything happen. Literally, anything, and if he makes it happen, it is as though it had always been that way.

"Spook" was cute. A poltergeist refuses to leave until he is challenged to a duel, but instead of weapons the duelists use increasingly bad poetry.

I didn't review every story, but overall this was an excellent collection. Beagle has a way of ripping your heart out, so this took me a lot longer to read than I had anticipated. I would like to add that Peter Beagle is a lovely and kind person, and it was an honor to meet him. If you ever have the chance to attend one of his book signings, GO!

Book 5 - Fade to Blue - Sean Beaudoin

Hey, this is my first book for Cannonball Read that doesn't have a subtitle!

I used to be a voracious reader. Then I went to grad school and worked two jobs at the same time. When I finally finished and had time to read, I had no idea what to read. Then pajiba.com came out with their list of "This Generation's Greatest Books". http://www.pajiba.com/guides/the-generations-best-books.php I had read about half of them, and I had heard good things about the other half. It made me motivated to get back into reading. Pajiba started doing daily book reviews, and suddenly I found books that sounded interesting. I would never have heard of this book if not for Nicole's review on pajiba.com.

I'm finding it difficult to write a review of a book that I honestly didn't understand. Fade to Blue is like The Matrix on acid. It's a book that you probably need to read at least three times to understand what the fuck is happening. Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury. It's Cannonball Read! I have to read these puppies faster!

Sophie Blue is a 18 year old ultra-goth girl. One year earlier her father disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Now she has regular hallucinations that an ice cream truck is stalking and repeatedly murdering her. That's about all I can discuss without revealing the plot.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. It was very well-written and enjoyable. It just defies description.