Same Story, Different Versions (and all are true)

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Nov 11, 2013 I have a new favorite song. I found these guys while looking for good versions of the  Last Unicorn  theme, since apparently the version from the movie isn't available for Amazon download.  Nor is the complete soundtrack -- unless you want it in German.  For $44.99 used.  Or $176.27 new. This is a very pretty case, though. Well, I remembered I used to love listening to the Kenny Loggins version in the car, from my mom's  Return to Pooh Corner  cassette, so I figured that was good enough.  It really is a lovely version, with just the right mood -- deep and melancholy, but also hopeful, and those few bursts of joy.  And I like the way his tone rises in "when the fu ture  is past," instead of following the usual pattern.  It's a small thing, but for some reason it makes a difference. Anyway, I also saw that there was a "Gregorian" version, and of course I was curious about h...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Mar. 22, 2012 EDIT 04-24-12:   EOTW Challenge progress:  2515 pages    2464 pages .   I discussed it with the  Booksluts , and they said I can use  Whalesinger  as long as I don't count the first 51 pages.  Also, I'm including the Afterword to  Isabel of the Whales . See my reviews of  Whalesinger  (212 pages) and  Isabel of the Whales  (181 pages*) at  Postcards .                              * That's if you count the author's Afterword to  Isabel of the Whales .  If the challenge-makers say nay, then the story itself is 173 pages, and my total page count is 2507.  Also, I had started  Whalesinger  years ago, but put it down after the first four chapters (51 pages).  Depending on what the challenge-makers say, I may have to not count the book, or at least start...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Feb. 25, 2012 EOTW page count:    1696 Anne Ursu.   Breadcrumbs .  New York: Walden Pond Press, 2011.   312 pages . Review at Postcards blog . I'm still planning my Nostalgic Review of the Sweet Valley books, to be posted at Postcards.  Meanwhile, the following are three books that somehow hadn't made it into my Elizabeth-and-Jessica-obsessed clutches before now. Weird, I know -- how could I never have read the first two books of the original series?  Honestly, I was much more interested in the spinoffs  Sweet Valley Twins  and -- especially --  Sweet Valley Kids .  It was one of the  Twins  books that first introduced me to the franchise, back in second grade. I'll save the more in-depth philosophizing about the franchise for that Nostalgic Review.  Right now, I'm just going to review the above-mentioned three titles.   SPOILERS AHEAD. Kate William. ...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on January 16, 2012. See here for info on the End of the World reading challenge. I'm in the middle of two books right now, and will be heading to Barnes and Noble soon for more from my To Read list. My impressions so far: Vandens Karaliene (The Queen of Water) , by Kai Meyer.   I picked this up in Vilnius a few summers ago, but hadn't got around to reading it until now.  The book was originally published in German, but my copy is the Lithuanian translation.  I might look up the U.S. translation ( The Water Mirror ) sometime, but first I want to meet my self-imposed challenge of improving my Lithuanian and Spanish. The story takes place in an alternate history -- a 19th-century world in which Egypt is still ruled by a pharaoh.  A pharaoh who is spreading his brutal empire, conquering other nations with his army of mummies.  Only Venice, it seems, has been spared, as it is protected by a mysterious, benevolent water s...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on August 27, 2011 During my last visit to HalfPrice Books, I was wandering through the SF/Fantasy section when I saw this: Honestly, though I'm a huge fantasy reader, I've never been interested in any of the books I've seen in the genre SF/F section.  But the front cover image and the back cover summary set off my  Ocean Girl  radar, and, after all, it was only about $3. The nutshell:   A pair of Time Agents is studying a mostly-ocean planet which was once home to a feudal civilization, but now seems devoid of any intelligent life.  Intending only to view the past through a time portal, the agents - along with a young Polynesian woman and her two dolphins, with whom she has a telepathic bond - are accidentally sucked through and caught in the middle of a potentially cataclysmic war.  It was a fun read overall, though it took a bit of suspension-of-disbelief for certain concepts or plot points. The good points...