I Read: The BFG

The BFG by Roald Dahl

Another from the Roald Dahl box set that I'm still working my way through (Beverly Cleary derailed the progress a little bit.)

I'd read The BFG before, I'm sure, but I didn't really remember the story.  I actually didn't really even remember what BFG stood for when I started, though I had it figured out by the time the story told me. 

This is another silly, but teaching, tale from Dahl and I was highly amused by the Queen in the story because it would actually have still been Queen Elizabeth. I'll bet when Dahl wrote the book he would never have guessed that. (He doesn't ever actually name her; she's just "The Queen.")

#39-2021

I Read: Otis Spofford

Otis Spofford by Beverly Cleary

This one pulls in characters we've seen before - Ellen Tebbits - and Otis played a minor character in the book based on Ellen. These ones feel very much like they could just be a highlight on any grade school during that time period.  There's always the kid who thinks he's smarter than everybody else, who does things behind the teacher's back, or things that he might regret instantly but is too cool to admit it. 

It's an amusing story, but I really related more to everyone else in the class. I remember the kids like Otis when I was in school.  It never occurred to me then that they might have their own backstory or even reasons why they were the way they were. As an adult, it's nice to revisit these moments and remember that everyone has a story. 

#38-2021

I Read: Moments Like This

Moments Like This by Anna Gomez & Kristoffer Polaha

(Book one From Kona with Love)

I really wanted to love this. I found out about it because Jensen Ackles tweeted about how his good friend Kris Polaha had written a book.  He hadn't read it but needed someone to do so and let him know how it was. It's definitely not a book that I would expect Jensen to read. But I was interested - I've seen Kris Polaha in movies and TV shows, and so thought, what could I lose?

Well... I could lose the time it took to read the book, and the money to buy it in the first place. But it's not awful. I was just disappointed. Polaha's co-author is actually a writer. Gomez has work on her biography, she's written before. So when I'm reading this and thinking that it feels like an amateur, I'm surprised. 

I Read: The Dirt

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx

There's not a lot a person can say about this book that the band hasn't said about themselves. I'd seen the movie years ago and had this one my TBR for quite a while. I'm not sure what finally got me to pick it up, but of course, I was going to do it eventually. 

Nothing in this book is particularly surprising. Everyone who's paid attention knows Motley Crue was basically a train wreck when they weren't on stage (and sometimes when they were?) It's just interesting to hear it in their own words. 

If you want to know what life is like as an out-of-control rock band member, this is the book you want to read. They are the height of rock band stereotype, and not exactly proud of it, but clearly also not ashamed. They are who they are. Take it or leave it. 

#36-2021

I Read: Muggie Maggie

Muggie Maggie by Beverly Cleary

Another on the greatest his of Beverly Cleary list, as I work through the nostalgia brought up by her passing. 

I don't really remember this one that well; I do know I read it at some point, but it's not as memorable as others. It's not tied into any of the other stories, so that is likely why. As a child, it would serve a great message on a platter. As an adult, it reminds us of our childhood motivations and expectations. 

#35-2021

I Read: Emily's Runaway Imagination

Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary

I don't think I had ever read this one as a kid. It's set in the past - very past. Cars are a new invention kind of past. It feels like something I would have read as a kid but it also feels as if it would have been memorable. 

As an adult, I don't think the title is as fitting as it could be, but I do see how it fits in. Emily does have a runaway imagination, but it's more about jumping to conclusions and naively believing what adults tell her. 

No matter what, the story is as good as any other Cleary I've read. I'm sure I would have taken very different lessons from the book as a child than I do as an adult. And I'm sure I would enjoy it at any point. 

#35-2021

I Read: Ellen Tebbits

Ellen Tebbits by Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary died recently, and in her honour, I am going to reread a ton of the Cleary classics that I read in childhood. I'm sad that she's passed, even knowing that she hasn't written in quite a long time because it's always sad when a wonderful writer leaves the world. I spent so much time in my childhood reading her novels and I can't imagine that I would be the reader or the writer, that I am without having read her work. 

Ellen Tebbits is one of the almost stand-alone novels Cleary wrote, though there is an appearance by Otis Spofford, the main character of his self-titled novel (that I"ll be reading later.)  I remember the name Ellen Tebbits being amusing as a child, but I don't really remember this book as much as the very much more well-known Henry Huggins or Ramona Quimby.  That's likely because Ellen isn't featured in a series of books the way Henry and Ramona were. It doesn't make this book any less enjoyable, nor does it mean that Ellen isn't just as engaging and inquisitive as a character. 

Cleary's style is clear in nearly everything she writes and Ellen Tebbits is no departure from that. The story is amusing, even as an adult, and would convey a thoughtful message or two to a precocious child. 

#33-2021