W - Wreck

   I love to read. It's a way to live a thousand lives during your life. Awesome, right? Well, not always. Sometimes, the book you read is awful. A book I read recently, The Girl on the Train, is probably one of the worst books I've ever read. I read it because it was supposed to be a great mystery. It's getting it's own movie and all.
   I was appalled at the book. I found all the characters unlikable, insane, stupid and troubled. The mystery element wasn't very good. I think the mystery would have been better if the characters would have been more tolerable.
   I think the worst part of the book was the fact that there wasn't any 'good' characters. Every character was a mess, undignified and miserable. If you would happen upon this book, I would suggest that you throw it away, burn it, make it into confetti or use the pages to line a hamster cage. That would be better than reading it.
   Some books are fantastic, others are quite the wreck. Still, you need bad books to help you understand the treasure that is a good book.

F - Fairy Tales

   Ah, fairy tales. Dramatic and unrealistic tales of a quivering princess trapped in a tower, a strong and mighty prince comes and slays the dragon, saves the princess and brings peace to the kingdom, right? Not so much. Have you ever read a fairy tale before? I have, and I was surprised at what I read.
   My favorite example of a fairy tale that isn't what you except is a quaint sounding one, The Dog and the Sparrow by Wilhelm Grimm. It begins with an abused dog who wasn't fed, and a sparrow. The dog was really hungry, and the sparrow helped him steal food from the marketplace. After they ate, the dog was tired and wanted to take a nap, so he did. The sparrow saw a cart approaching and warned the driver of the sleeping dog, but the carter continued anyway. He ran over the dog and killed him.
   Happy, right? Well, not to brighten your day, but it gets worse. The sparrow is now outraged, so she goes and avenges the dog's death. She wrecks much havoc, and finally in the end, she kills the carter. It ends, "...and the sparrow flew quietly home to her nest." That's the end. Seriously.
   I was surprised, to say the least. It was a terrible ending to a terrible story. The Twelve Dancing Princesses, my cousin's (and my) favorite Barbie movie was based upon a fairy tale. The movie was almost completely different than the story. Same with Briar Rose, the origins of Sleeping Beauty. It's so distorted from the original tale, I'm sure that if The Dog and the Sparrow was made into a movie, it would have a happy ending.

Graphic Novels

    My latest reading obsession has been one of graphic novels. A graphic novel is pretty much a lengthened comic book. One day, I hope to write my own graphic novel, but until that day, I will just enjoy reading them.

   The first graphic novel I ever read was the Big Nate books. They aren't full graphic novels, more like novels with graphics, if that makes any sense.

Here's what I mean:

 

 

 

   So those are some examples of what I mean. Big Nate, Dork Diaries and Diary of a Wimpy Kid are all written similarly. Normal graphic novels are written more like comic book in those regards.

   Our library has a small selection of graphic novels, so I cleared a shelf and started reading. I've read several now, and the best one I've read so far was one about Dracula. I never thought I would love a book about a vampire before I read this one. I was even tempted to not read it, but the way it was drawn compelled me, so I did. Graphic novels don't take me long to read. I finished Dracula in a half in hour.

    Have you ever read a comic book or a graphic novel? Would you if you had the chance? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

Until I think of something else to post about,

Kat