Merry Misfits Book Club September: Aida by Leontyne Price

September's theme was fairy tales.  Now, that's pretty broad... and since I was so behind with the reading challenge, I decided to go ahead and pick something short and simple.  I saw this picture book version of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida (adapted by opera singer Leontyne Price, who was famous for playing the title role) at the library and had to check it out.  It is a children's book, so very short... debatably cheating, but reading is reading.  And I know what you're thinking... is this really a fairy tale?  According to the Dewey Decimal system, yes... it was shelved with the likes of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.  Plus it's about a princess, true love, and adventure in a foreign land, so...

This was a good book.  I admit, I didn't really know the story of Aida -- I know next to nothing about opera -- so it was a good story to pick up and read in a condensed form.  The story was beautiful, the art was stunning, and it kind of made me want to go listen to the music from the show.  As I mentioned, it's about a princess and true love... but (SPOILER ALERT) since it's based on an opera, it does not have a happily ever after ending, and that would be the one place it differs from what we think of as fairy tales.  But the atmosphere of magic and romance was very fairy tale, and our heroine is brave as she suffers through everything life throws at her just like you'd expect of a fairy tale princes.  I don't really have much to say, other than the fact that kids' books are almost always better than adults' books, and I don't regret choosing this.

I didn't end up reviewing this one on Goodreads because I didn't really have anything to say, but here's the book on Goodreads and here's my profile.  Mark it as "to read" and then follow me, lol.

I read this book on Septermber 22, making me technically on track for that one day, lol.  I finished it before the August book I just posted about, but I didn't want to post out of order.

Would I recommend this book?  Sure!  It's a quick read but it's a good one, and I think it'd be at home in any library of children's books.

DYRC 19: August: Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure by Cecil Castelucci and Jason Frey

I am aware it is October.  Yes, I'm a little behind, lol.  Anyways, the DYRC theme for August was sci-fi, so I decided to read Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure, which was a book I got for free as a prize for finishing the library's summer reading challenge.  Now, it's debatable whether or not choosing a junior Star Wars novel is cheating, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.  On with the show.

I enjoyed this book.  It's a story that takes place between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and we follow a Leia who is dealing with a lot.  She's struggling with feelings of survivor's guilt and probably some PTSD... and she's incredibly worried about Han, who is at this point still frozen in carbonite.  Her characterization is true to the films, but very realistic and well rounded.  She plays well with the other characters that make up her team for this mission.  We don't get to know all of them as well as I would have liked, but they're written well enough that you can easily get attached.  The story is good and exciting, takes a lot of turns and I wouldn't call it predictable.  Plus the Phil Noto art is a really nice touch... I love his work. And because this book is a part of the Journey to The Force Awakens line of books and comics released to coincide with the release of Episode VII (my favorite modern Star Wars film), the epilogue ties into that movie beautifully and it made me happy.

Here's my Goodreads review.  Follow me there to see me add a bunch of children's books to my shelves and to read observations I think are pithy but are really tired.

I read this book between September 22 and October 19.  It only took me that long because I didn't get to dedicate a lot of time to it.  It's not super long and it's a pretty quick read.

Would I recommend this book?  To Star Wars fans only.  It's an enjoyable book, but it won't convert you into a fan if you aren't one already.

i'm only a million behind

I'm so determined to get caught up on my reading challenge, but I don't know when/if I will be able to.  Here's what I'm working on though:

August: (theme sci-fi) Moving Target
September: (theme nonfic) Burning Up
September: (theme fairytale) Aida (finished this one, just don't want to post it out of order)
October: (theme a book from another country) The Phantom of the Opera
October: (theme young adult) tbd YA book lol

Hoping to have August and September finished soon.  I hate being this far behind... I hate that having a full time job now prevents me from doing the most minor amount of reading.  Sigh...

fatigue

I've been feeling especially worn down lately.  Just from life, from stuff related to work, just... everything.  I've been going in to work at 6 am, which is just fucking awful, lol.  I'm supposed to get back to my normal hours next week (fingers crossed that for once something works out like work tells me it will), and hopefully things will be less uncomfortable for me. And maybe I'll be less unhappy.