"The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norman Juster

Thumbs up for The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. Children's.

There's a certain kind of whimsical, nonce-based middle-grade kids' book that does nada for me personally - Alice in Wonderland, I'm looking at you. Some amusing bits for sure, though I think I'll stick to things with character development. But yeah, it's cute.

"Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn?" she inquired. "Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven't the answer to a question you've been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause in a roomful of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you're all alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful, if you listen carefully."

"Maus" Volumes I and II by Art Spiegelman

Thumbs up for Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History and Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman. Graphic novel/history.

As far as Holocaust survival stories go, I'd say this is miles better than Night (see my review). Spiegelman's scribbly, stark illustrations - Jews as mice, Germans as cats - fit the story perfectly as he reports his father's experiences as a young man, when the elder Spiegelman (a Polish Jew) survived WWII via cleverness and buckets of luck. The flash-forward scenes in which Spiegelman struggles with his elderly, ailing, and, shall we say, difficult, father, interviewing him for Maus itself, inject a bit of black humor into the books and alleviate the nausea somewhat. A work of art as well as history and well-deserving of its modern classic status.

"Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

Neither thumbs up nor thumbs down for Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Literature.

A troublesome book. Troublesome because the writing is lovely; and the first sixty pages have a lot of promise, including a most excellent proposal scene. Then, as the unnamed protagonist is introduced to her new home, and is tortured in thought by the memories of her new husband's dead wife, and tortured in practice by her housekeeper, I found myself losing all sympathy with her. I kept wanting to shout at her: "Grow a pair, you twit! Fire the housekeeper, and talk to your bloody husband!" There are few things I hate more in a hero or heroine than passivity and cowardice, and she displays both in spades. And her own knowledge of her cowardice doesn't make me like her any more. But I stuck it out, and was rewarded on page 250 by a big, satisfying reveal (only half of which I'd guessed at). Things got better after that and I enjoyed the rest. Nevertheless, for obvious reasons, I can't really give it a "thumbs up"; I don't believe in supporting that kind of idiotic behavior, even in fictional characters, you know?

"One day," he went on, spreading his toast thick, "you may realise that philanthropy is not my strongest quality. At the moment I don't think you realise anything at all. You haven't answered my question. Are you going to marry me?"

Etsy Treasury: Subtle Whoviana

Love Doctor Who, but want to display your love in a subtle, classy way?

Etsy Treasury: The Lady Adventurer's Traveling Gear

What does a lady adventurer take with her? Goggles to shield her eyes on the dirigible; a watch to calibrate her time machine; a diary to record her discoveries. And a few things to beautify herself as well, in case she must distract the villain!

"Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn

Thumbs up for Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. Literature.

This is what I call a "bath book" - a book of 200 pages or less that I can read over the length of one (very long) bath. And a most delightful bath book it is. It is a novel in letters (I won't be poncy and call it "epistolary"), mostly sent between two teenage cousins who live on opposite sides of the hyper-literate island nation Nollop, which floats off the coast of the southern US. Most likely Nollop is a charming place to live, but the problem is, the local council of elders has gone bonkers and is outlawing the use of certain letters, one by one, on pain of - well, on pain of pain, or banishment, or even death. But certain citizens fight back.... A wonderful light read for anyone who loves words and wordplay. (While it is marketed as an adult book, it's also appropriate for young adults of advanced vocabulary.)

PPS. You will notice that with the exception of the use of the letter "Z" in the anserous term "vocabu-lazy," the affectionately familiar "Cuz," and the mischievously manufactured "bezide," the letter is employed nowhere else in this missive. My point stands on principle: to choose to use the letter if I so wish it, or to choose not to; such is my right - a right now to be eradicated by stroke of High Council pen. And with that, I cloze.