I remember those things called books...

Honestly, I can't believe how long it's taken me to finish a book. I think this whole motherhood thing has finally caught up with me, and it's made worse by Christmas looming ahead of me. It's been forever since I started these two - and I don't normally read two books at a time, but there were both pretty un-put-downable.

I'd read How I Live Now when it first came out (I think I had a proof copy, I don't remember) and although it wasn't great, there was just something about it that made me not stop reading the book. I felt much the same way whilst reading Just In Case, the second novel from Meg Rosoff. I loved how tragic and emotional the main character is in this book, and all the weird twists that Fate brings to him. After a near-accident involving David Case's younger brother, David assumes that Fate is out to get him, that he's doomed. So in an attempt to trick Fate, he changes his identity, his hobbies, his look and finds love. I still can't pinpoint exactly what I liked about this book, was it the writing style, the plot, the voice of the characters, I'm really not sure - but I enjoyed it. It made for some interesting bedtime reading (the only chance I get to read these days)! Anyway, I enjoyed it!

Gregory Maguire. His novel Wicked, his retelling of The Wizard of Oz, is all over the place at the moment, and I've heard lots about it and about the new musical based on it. It was recommended to me by Shadowfalcon, but to be honest, I just couldn't get into it. So, I tried Mirror Mirror instead. It's the retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, except there are eight dwarves, and its a wonderfully dark story. The apple in the story is none other than an apple off the Tree Of Knowledge, the wicked stepmother (was she a stepmother in this, I don't really remember) is Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of a wicked pope who has an incestual relationship with her brother, the dwarves are .. oh well, anyway, I don't want to give it all away, but I really enjoyed reading this. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting and Maguire gives his own details and new touches to really make this story his own. I might just go give Wicked another try after this ...