The books I read while clinging to sanity by my fingertips. I didn't get enough read during either month to warrant their own posts, I was just too busy and way too stressed, so here's my November and December reads combined.
The Animal Rescue Agency: Cast File: Little Claws
Iâve been on an Eliot Schrefer kick, though so far I havenât read anything that topped Queer Ducks for me. This was a very cute youth novel about the dashing Esquire Fox, who runs the Animal Rescue Agency, who are sworn to help any animal in need. In this first case, Esquire â and her fussy rooster friend, Mr Pepper â find themselves adventuring out into the arctic to rescue a baby polar bear from a sinister poacher.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Iâve seen this book celebrated but didnât really know much about it. I bought it on a whim, wanting something cosy to read, and it delivered. Itâs a collection of little passages that form a loose narrative, and is centred around being a positive, uplifting view of life. It occasionally feels a little trite, but ultimately if youâre willing to take it for what it is without being overly critical, it was a very charming experience. It has an old-fashioned Winnie-the-Pooh vibe, and the artistry of each page is lovely, so combining that with very gentle and loving affirmations it makes a nice book to sit under a blanket and read on a rainy day.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
My mom found her old, original copy of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from when she was a kid, and since this was something I had been meaning to read for years I decided now was the time. You can definitely see Ian Flemingâs fingerprints all over it â who doesnât love a cool, gadget-y, semi-sentient car in a battle against horrible mobsters? Add some explosions, a bit of flying, and a sweet shop theft, it really is a fun little adventure. Very different from the film, but both are good in their own unique ways.
A Christmas Carol
I love reading a Christmas novel in December but it was way too busy for me to do anything new or complex this year, so I decided to reread A Christmas Carol. You really canât go wrong with it, Dickenâs turns of phrase and the way he portrays humanity is wonderful and it just pulls you right in. Itâs such a quick, fun read that I really do recommend anyone who enjoys the films to give it a try â itâs not as intimidating as it might seem.
Failed Princesses v6
Finally, the last volume of the series! It was very overdramatic but in a quintessentially shoujo way. If youâve ever wanted an almost cliche shoujo, but with lesbians, then this is the series for you. It starts with two very different girls â a prep and a nerd, essentially â finding themselves pushed together and slowly developing a friendship as they try to understand the otherâs point of view and way of living life. As the series progresses, so do their feelings for one another.
Fortunately, the Milk
An absolutely hilarious novella about a father and his excuses for being a little late getting home from the shop with the milk his kids need for breakfast. Obviously itâs not because he got chatting with a friend, no, he was definitely dedicatedly on his way home, absolutely determined to save his childrenâs milk-less breakfast, only to be abducted by aliens⌠and it gets sillier from there. A very fast, very adorable read; it had me grinning the whole way through.
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
This was a series I remember loving as a kid but havenât seen since. I stumbled across the first book again and decided to see if it stood up to what I remembered. In some ways it very much did! Itâs about Hank, a cowdog who takes his job as Head Of Ranch Security very seriously⌠but unfortunately does have the intelligence of an average dog and more often than not gets himself into a lot of fuss and bother. Itâs a fun mystery adventure, written to mimic a jaded private eye and the humour that a child might miss comes through for any adults reading it. Unfortunately, theyâre portrayal of First Nations oh, sorry, I mean coyotes, is seriously very, very uncomfy. Like, deeply racist. So⌠probably wouldnât recommend, leave it as a childhood memory.
Nintendo Adventure Books: Leaping Lizards
My brother has an old copy of a Nintendo choose your own adventure book so we decided to sit down and play it over the holidays. Written in the Super Mario Bros 3 era, this book is just completely buckwild, and the results of your choices are completely bizarre. Did it make sense? No. Was it well written? Also no. Did we laugh a lot while reading it though? Yes, it was a blast.
Orphaned
More Eliot Schrefer. This story is about a young gorilla named Snub, who lived back in prehistoric Africa and had never seen a human before⌠until catastrophe strikes and she finds herself separated from her family and forced to care for her little brother as these strange human creatures stalk the trees. But when Snub sees the humans violently cast out one of their own, she has a challenging decision to make. Schrefer really seems to know what heâs talking about when it comes to animals, and I like how this book is handled. Itâs not a âtalking animalâ book, and he does a great job of portraying the world as a young gorilla like Snub might perceive it.
My Fatherâs Dragon
Itâs been turned into a Netflix film, so of course I had to go find the book before watching the movie. The book was charming, and had that very classic 1940s kidlit vibe. Did not bother explaining any of the weirdness, just a had a fun time taking you on an adventure to Wild Island, where the narratorâs father sets about with only his cunning and a strange mishmash of supplies to try to rescue a young dragon who had been enslaved by the other animals.
Prince of Song & Sea
I was hesitant about this book â I was never a huge Little Mermaid fan and every Disney prequel, sequel, triquel is wearing on me â but Iâm pretty much willing to follow Linsey Miller wherever she intends to go. And I was pleased that I did. This book focuses on the story of Disneyâs Little Mermaid as told from Prince Ericâs point of view, but with a bunch of new world building and twists built into it. In this version, Ursula is a much more pervasive and threatening force, and Eric has to figure out how to protect his little kingdom from encroaching threats, fend off the increasing pirate threat, and deal with his own curse that is related to his motherâs early death. Honestly, my main complaint is that it is inherently Disney. The weakest parts of the book came from Millerâs interesting characters and lore bump up against the âpre-renderedâ Disney scenes â they didnât always mesh that well and it left me floundering occasionally. Honestly, it made me wish this was just a pure re-imagining without the movie baggage at all. But! I canât fault anyone from getting that ~*Sweet Disney Money*~ and I honestly donât think anyone could have handled this better. I enjoyed reading it.
The Hound of the Baskervilles // The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Well, my last month has been, in a world, hell. So weâve returned to the ultimate comfort media: Sherlock Holmes. I reread Hound and The Return of Sherlock Holmes and Iâll probably be continuing with this into the New Year because my personal hell doesnât look like itâs gonna let up any time soon.
John Watson was disabled and chronically ill. Between the pain his injuries continued to cause him for the rest of his life, a condition that sometimes left him unable to do more than lounge on the sofa for the whole day, and the ravages his subsequent case of typhoid caused his health was in his own words âpermanently ruinedâ.
Which is turn means that he will never get back to his pre state, he never fully recovered. He had decent days where he could go about his life more or less like normal, but heâd likely need more frequent breaks than before. And then there were days where even just getting out of bed and getting dressed almost felt like more than he could manage.
In addition to this chronic pain is an incontinent and unpredictable condition. While some things like cold and damp weather or overexerting yourself are almost certain to make matters worse, some days your body messes with your âjust becauseâ. Thereâs no real rhyme or reason to it and you can only take so many precautions.
Not to mention that itâs exhausting. The pain alone is tiring but even when it is well managed it often leaves you feeling drained and your brain being foggy and incoherent.
Finally it screws with your perception of pain. For most people the normal amount of pain is zero, but for someone with chronic pain itâs a 2 or a 3 or more. And thatâs just the way it is. So when something hurts and how much it hurts is very different.
And this is his life from before he even turns 30. Chronic illness and disability is hard to learn to live with at any age, but when youâre relatively young it becomes even harder. Heâs clearly not a man given to complaining and he tends to put others first, but is it any wonder heâs in such a dismal state when he meets Holmes?
This also answers I think why Watson put up with Holmesâ mood swings and temper, because Watson had mood swings and a temper of his own. Thereâd be days where all he can manage would be curt words because he has no energy for being polite and though he never says it openly, because perhaps heâs a bit embarrassed about it, it can be clearly inferred from the stories that Holmes looked after him as much as he looked after Holmes.
Watson would hate to feel like a burden or like he couldnât manage on his own, but Holmes never treats him as that or as âless thanâ nor does he appear to view him with pity. So is it any wonder Watson took to that odd and erratic man as passionately as he did?
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