Fool

Fool: A Novel Christopher Moore

What Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal did for the gospels, Fool does for King Lear.

I originally picked this up because when I saw Moore had a new one out, The Serpent of Venice*, I put a hold on it, only to discover it was a sequel. So, of course I went back and read Fool.

Now, I’ve never read Lear, but that’s ok. Moore’s book might have been smarter and funnier if I were more familiar with the source material, but it’s plenty smart and plenty hilarious without it.

Basically, Fool is a hilarious retelling of King Lear form the Fool’s perspective. The Fool sees everything around him, and in Moore’s version, ends up driving most of the plot (with some help from the Weird Sisters, on loan from MacBeth.)

Much like Lamb, while the commentary and the book are very smart and well done, it’s also super-raunchy and full of swearing, sex, and anachronism. This is Moore at his best. Slightly offensive, very “earthy” and extremely smart. This reminds me that Moore is one of my favorite authors for a reason.

*If Fool = Lear, I assume Serpent of Venice = Merchant of Venice

Book Provided by... my local library

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You

You Charles Benoit

You're a largely misunderstood kid that everyone thinks is a troublemaker. You know better but they don't, so sometimes you just go with it. It's what they expect of you anyway. It starts with the blood, something gone horribly wrong. It ends there, too. The in-between is the girl you like. The in-between is the new kid who likes you for some reason. You like him too, until it's all gone wrong. So very wrong.

Overall, it's an enjoyable read. The quick pace of the plot and the second-person narration help drive the reader to turn the pages quickly and draw you in. I liked it but didn't think it was anything special. And then someone pointed out that's a retelling of Othello and my mind exploded. Because it totally is. It's a Shakespeare retelling that will appeal to struggling and reluctant readers-- a fun read with some source material that's really subtly woven in (and then once it's pointed out to you, all you can do is shout OMG DUH and feel stupid for missing it.)

Book Provided by... my local library

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Verily, A New Hope

William Shakespeare's Star Wars Ian Doescher, George Lucas, and William Shakespeare.

So, this is pretty much what you’d expect, but a bit better. It’s A New Hope (aka, Star Wars #1) retold in the style of Shakespeare. I say “in the style of” because it does more that retell the story in iambic pentameter-- there’s a chorus that explains some of the action and sets the scene, as well as long soliloquies, really translating the story into how it would be told as an Elizabethan drama. Even the illustrations show how the staging would work in Elizabethan times.

There are several in-jokes for those who know their Shakespeare and their Star Wars. The text is full of such allusions as ”Friends, rebels, starfighters, lend me your ears…” and while the chorus refuses to say if Han shoots first, Jabba the Hutt *does* show up, as does Biggs Darklighter and Luke making plans to hang out after the battle-- so Doescher is working from the rerelease instead of the original. (Sorry, is my nerd showing?)

Overall, it was very fun, and well done. I'm looking forward to looking at William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back, which comes out next month. The Jedi Doth Return will be out this summer.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Coffee and Shakespeare = YAY!

Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty Jody Gehrman

First things first-- this is Much Ado About Nothing, but set in Sonoma County and told from Beatrice's (renamed Geena) point of view. There's no wedding, but a giant sweet sixteen party. No one fakes their death, but they might return to boarding school earlier than planned. The evil Don John is just the bigshot local guy whom everyone worships. The coffee is hot, but the revenge is cold.

A fun and excellent summer read, and a really well done retelling. It stays true to the plot and elements, but if I hadn't known it was a retelling before reading it, it would have taken me a really long time to get it, because it keeps the source material in the background (much like Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason). I most enjoyed the subplot of Geena and her father. The sequel, Triple Shot Bettys in Love which I'm very much looking forward to reading, is a retelling of Cyrano De Bergerac.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Poetry Friday, Shakespeare Edition

Welcome to Poetry Friday! As I have been reading of dreams (as I shall hopefully review later today) I thought I'd share a bit from Romeo and Juliet.

Mercutio: O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her waggon-spokes made of long spinners' legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
The traces of the smallest spider's web,
The collars of the moonshine's watery beams,
Her whip of cricket's bone, the lash of film,
Her waggoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not so big as a round little worm
Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid;
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on court'sies straight,
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees,
O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are:
Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail
Tickling a parson's nose as a' lies asleep,
Then dreams, he of another benefice:
Sometime she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled much misfortune bodes:
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage:
This is she--

Romeo: Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace!
Thou talk'st of nothing.

Round up is over at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Check it out!

Sequels I've Neglected--Kid Lit

So, you know how when you are totally in love with a series and you pre-order the next volume as soon as possible and then just kinda drop everything to read it when it comes through the door? Please tell me I am not the only person like this.

Anyway, here are some books that fall in that category. I read these most of these day they came out. I'm just slow to talk about them.

The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney.

Ok, I didn't preorder this. But I totally pre-reserved it at the library. If anything, this book is scarier, creepier, and grosser than the first one. And possibly even better.

Thomas Ward and the Spook are off to Priestown (which, as you can imagine, is a town full of Priests, and they're never fans of Spooks). The Bane is an evil thing that crushes its victims flat and is starting to control the minds of the people living near its prison, in the catacombs underneath the church. Thomas and the Spook need to finish it once and for all, but the Spook has tried, and failed before.

Oh, and they're going to be hanged for being Spooks. All in a days work!

Regarding the Bathrooms: A Privy to the Pastby Kate Klise

Ok, once again, something I pre-reserved. I only have so much bookshelf space people!

The kid's in Sam N's class are back. It's summer, and they've all found jobs. Marriages are on the rocks, international crime rings seemingly have ties to Geyser Creek and deep secrets of the past are uncovered. Probably the best book in this series since the first one.

The Sisters Grimm: Once Upon a Crime by Michael Buckley

When we last saw Sabrina, Daphne, Puck & Co., Puck's wings had been torn off and he was dying. SO! The family makes its way to New York City, the heart of the Faerie Kingdom so Puck can get well...

It turns out that Veronica Grimm (before she went missing) was a hero here. Sabrina is NOT HAPPY to find this out. She is angrier than ever. Then, King Oberon is found poisoned and an innocent Faerie is blamed. Sabrina wants out of the game, and Grandma Grimm lets her quit, but now Daphne won't talk to her...

This is one of my favorites in the series. The change of locale and new cast of characters keeps the scenario from getting repetitive and old. Also, it's not often that you see the cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream making fractured appearances in children's literature. Where it's funnier if you're familiar with the play, it still works for people who haven't read or seen it (and I think most of the target audience falls into this category).

I also love the introduction of the Godfathers. More Mafia than turning pumpkins into coaches, they're brilliant. As is Bluebeard as a Wall Street financier. Once again, all jokes that younger readers aren't going to fully understand, but it's not only for adults.

The changing and evolving relationship between Sabrina and Daphne is one of the best, and most subtle, parts of this series, and this is a good volume (if less subtle) in that regard.

And yes, I've already pre-ordered Magic and Other Misdemeanors

Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now by Lauren Child

This hasn't even been published in the US yet, but Amazon will obtain a UK copy for you.

Clarice has some bigger worries in this latest installment (and more pages in which to explore them! yippee!) It's still zany and fun and silly and everything you love about Clarice, but also deeper and older. Betty moves away and everyone's cranky and she's so worried and anxious about everything that she's not sleeping anymore, which isn't helping with school. There's a new girl, Clem, and everyone seems to love her, but Clarice doesn't trust her at all.

There's still a lot of Ruby, a lot more of Marcie (as she's back from France) and less of Minal Cricket. A must read for Clarice fans.