I Thought a Transformers Book Would Be INTERESTING...
What a surprisingly beautiful book! The story is whimsical and yet strangely touching, the characters are wholly original and fascinating to get to know, and the author manages to take what could have been an absurd plot and makes it something beautiful, deftly weaving the story of every character together and developing them in the process. I love this book, and I highly recommend it.
I am, of course, talking about The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. I've given up on Twilight after throwing it at a wall one too many times...
The Magician's Elephant takes place in the fictional European city of Baltese at the end of the seventeenth century. A young orpahn named Peter visits a fortuneteller, who tells him that his sister is alive and if he wants to find her, he must "follow the elephant." He thinks the fortuneteller is crazy -- until an elephant crashes through the roof of the city's opera house during a magician's performance. The story proceeds to follow both the elephant and all those somehow connected to her -- Peter, the magician who accidentally summoned the elephant, a noblewoman who was injured by the elephant's sudden appearance, a policeman who becomes involved in the matter, a singing beggar, a blind dog, a hunchbacked stoneworker who becomes the elephant's caretaker, and more.
The book is a short read -- it's intended for young adults, and I was able to finish it in a couple of days. But it's still well worth your time.
As for Twilight... I only made it to chapter 6 before becoming so thoroughly bored with it I gave it up for good. It's just a BORING book, like reading someone's diary. And from what I hear, it doesn't get much better as the series progresses. From now in I'll satisfy my curiousity through the Twilight Saga (Push Me Off A) CliffNotes blog -- here for the curious [link] .
I've also given up on the Transformers Trilogy -- it's just not holding my interest. I'll be donating it to the library. Hey, I'm only out four bucks...
What this means, however, is that now I'm without anything to read. Bugger. Guess I go book hunting tomorrow at work... there's got to be SOMETHING worth my time there...