my read-a-thon book pile...

weeded down slightly with your help:
(the ones in bold are the ones you chose for me)

1. This is my story about what happened to me last year when Mum got ill and Dad and I had to go and stay at Aunt Nan's and I had my weird dream.--Mirrormask by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (so sad this one didn't make the cut)

2. This is a story that took place long ago...in a faraway place...in the land of Koriyo.--Legend of Chun Hyang by CLAMP

3. They came at night...because they knew we were among them.--A Midnight Opera Vol. 1 by Hans Steinbach

4. Cheer up, Amber.--The Dreaming by Queenie Chan

5. Still no sign of the townspeople.--Bone by Jeff Smith

6. It was so weird.--Black Hole by Charles Burns

7. I'm off to school, Ma.--The Book of Ballads by Charles Vess (another one I'm sad didn't make the cut)

8. Yes, it's "once upon a time" time again.--Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham

9. Once there was a king who dreamed of war.--Strange Roads by Peter S. Beagle

10. I once believed that life was a gift.--Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

11. The brain is soft.--Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside by Katrina Firlik

12. Like many fathers, mine could occasionally be prevailed upon for a spot of "airplane."--Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (hmmm...maybe I shouldn't have played this game after all)

13. "Let's get this party started, already!" Sabrina complained under her breath as she rubbed the charley horse in her leg.--The Sisters Grimm: The Unusual Suspects by Michael Buckley

14. Midsummer: The long days begin in bright, rising mist and never end.--Go With Me by Castle Freeman Jr.

15. The stench in his daughter's darkened room nearly brought Len to his knees.--Inside Out Girl by Tish Cohen

16. Crime was out there.--What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn

17. Everything you think you know about the world isn't true.--The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak

18. "Dive, dive, dive!" shouted Suzy as she clutched the old Chevy's cracked red-and-white steering wheel, jerking it back and forth in her hands, yanking hard on the turn signal lever to bring the ship down.--Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon

19. If standing alone on the back doorstep, Tom allowed himself to weep tears, they were tears of anger.--Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

20. "Once there was a beautiful garden."--The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going

21. "Skulls," said Lady Lamorna.--The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French

22. Once there was a Castle, high on a hill,
and a King who longed for a nap
and a Queen who yearned for solitude
and a Prince who loved poetry
and a Princess who loved herself
and a Spare Prince who loved his sword
and a Hermit who was wise.--The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech

23. After a year of hunting, I finally caught up with Sarah.--PEEPS by Scott Westerfeld

24. There are days that start off just fine.--Freak Show by James St. James

25. This is how things look:
Shady Pines Apartments, four shabby buildings tucked off the road near the highway.--Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

26. Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a rabbit who was made almost entirely of china.--The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

27. Imo set out one day to catch some fish, but there was no sea.--Nation by Terry Pratchett

28. When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.--The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

29. Long ago, when earth and sky were still covered in darkness, a great bird with wings like curtains of night came to rest on the cold earth.--A Taste of Earth and Other Legends of Vietnam by Thich Nhat Hanh

30. Pay attention.--The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursa

Man, wouldn't it be great if you could just make a huge pile like this and then ignore all other responsibilities until you'd read them all?!! You know, I once had a dream about something similar. In the dream, Rich told me that I wasn't allowed out of bed until I'd read all the books on this little bookcase we used to have in our bedroom (probably would have been about 100 or so books) and all I was allowed to eat until I finished was Skor candy bars. Now obviously, I would have died of malnutrition before I managed to finish the books, but in the dream I seemed pretty happy about it all.

Anyway, thank you to all who helped me to ever-so-slightly weed down my pile!

Fahrenheit 451...random thoughts

Fahrenheit 451. While this is only my third book by Mr. Bradbury, I just have to say that his writing is just the most exquisite I've ever read. And yes, I do love his stories, but its his writing that really blows me away.

"It was a pleasure to burn.

It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of the blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history...."

Thus begins Fahrenheit 451. I could spend years trying, and still never be able to put words together in such an amazing way. But now, having said all that, I have to admit that, for the most part, I wasn't quite as captivated by the writing in this book as I was by that in either Something Wicked This Way Comes or The Halloween Tree. The reason for that may be, though I'm not sure, that this story was just more thought-provoking. While Something Wicked This Way Comes is wonderfully sinister in its own way, Fahrenheit 451 was even more terrifying because of its utter plausibility.

Guy Montag is a fireman. But the profession of fireman in this novel is far different from what it is today. Firemen in Fahrenheit 451 destroy, as opposed to preserve. And what they destroy is books. And homes that hide books. And sometimes even the people who own these books.

In the space of just a single week, Guy Montag's world is turned upside down. Though really, the seeds of this tumultuous turn-around were sown long before. Montag just hadn't realized this before meeting Clarisse, a seventeen-year-old girl who still found wonder and beauty in the world. And because she did find wonder and beauty in the world, she was considered crazy. Montag's brief talks with Clarisse awaken something inside him. Later in this life-altering week, Montag witnesses a woman choose to burn with her books as opposed to living without them. From here, his world begins spinning out of control...

As I said earlier, this book was all the more terrifying because of its plausibility. The censorship of books in this tale did not begin with the government, though it did eventually become illegal to read books. It began with apathy. With people choosing to give up books on their own. With people choosing to spend their time in rooms comprised of wall-sized screens. Do I really see this book as a prophecy of what's to come? No. I'd like to believe it couldn't really happen. But then there's a lot happening in this world that seems unfathomable.

This is Annie's and my next literature selection for school, and it should make for some interesting conversations. But as for me, I'm anxious to now dive into another book for Once Upon a Time II.