A Wizard of Earthsea

by Ursula LeGuin

This appears on most lists of “Fantasy Novels You Have to Read Sometime,” which meant it was another book for the train ride. Short, quick, and it had a map in the front.

Strangely disappointing, though.

I thought the story would be more intricate and the world much more interesting, since I’d heard it compared to a cross between Middle-Earth and Narnia. Not even close. And there were several long-ish passages of the main character analyzing himself, or being lost in his own thoughts, which usually spanned a page or two of excessively long paragraphs. I hate (for the most part) long paragraphs in fiction, and I hate (for the most part) having to read a lot of the main character’s inner thoughts and reflections (Crime & Punishment is an exception).

At the beginning, the book seemed to have a lot of potential. I was enjoying it. Then I somehow lost my interest and kept reading only because…what else was I going to do on the train? Take another LSAT practice test?

In all fairness, though, I will probably give LeGuin’s other Earthsea novels a try. (Her books being so much shorter, I’m willing to do for her what I refuse to do for Robert Jordan.)

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place

by E.L. Konigsburg

You’re probably familiar with author Konigsburg from her Newbery award-winning book From the Mixed-Up Filed of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which is an excellent book about a brother and sister who live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a while. I’ve had The Outcasts of… on my reading list for a while, and decided it might be nice to read on the train.

And it was nice, although very short (which, for a children’s book, isn’t necessarily a bad thing). I loved that it referenced “Bartleby the Scrivener,” a great short story by Herman Melville (loads better than Moby Dick – you really should read the story). The characters were interesting, but you know what? I felt like it would have made a much better movie than book. Isn’t that odd? Usually you read a good book and think, Wow, wouldn’t that be a fun movie, but here I almost felt like someone had written a book after hearing someone describe a movie. Hm.

It wasn’t as good as From the Mixed-Up…, understandably, but it definitely wasn’t bad. It at least helped take up some time on the train. I had to listen to really loud music on the Zune while I read because I was sitting right by a girl who seemed to have a combination of whooping cough, pneumonia, and emphysema (is that even possible?). Yup.

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

As I mentioned before, I’ve added so many books to my list of books to someday read that I can’t remember where I heard about them or really even what I thought they might be about. It must have been the title of The Book Thief, though, because once my copy was available at the library, I disappointedly saw that it was something about Nazi Germany. Immediately I assumed it would be mainly about grownups either following Hitler or being subversive and it would be a lot of non-fiction learning tossed in with the story (which would also be boring).

Isn’t it nice to be wrong? Now I’m not sure why I ever assumed those things, or even figured a book about Nazi Germany could be uninteresting. The Book Thief is about a little girl named Liesel who is sent to live with foster parents when she’s nine. The story is narrated by Death.

I guess I usually stay away from darker subjects, or ones that I know will be somewhat depressing. But this book was amazing – despite the heartache involved, it was great to really get to know one family and what each of them went through and thought about living in a time and place where they were expected to follow the Nazi Party.

The writing is beautiful, although very different from anything I’ve read before. I had a nice long cry for the last few chapters, and when I had finished the book, I decided it will go on my list of favorites. Absolutely.

So I’m going to recommend it to anyone, everyone.