Mini-Review: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

A bored young boy finds a way to travel to a mysterious land which teaches him the importance of words and numbers and most everything else in life.

Rating:  ★★★★★ – loved it

Pros:  puns, word play, beautiful descriptive language, hilarious, clever
Cons:  literally none

This book is absolutely timeless (despite Tock the Watchdog) and everyone regardless of age should read it at least once.

It’s punny and clever, and trusts the reader’s intelligence. It’s even fun to read aloud, so if you have kids read it with them.

Seriously. Just read this book. You’ll be glad you did.

What Are You Reading Wednesday: June 27, 2018

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
  2. Milo and Tock wondered what strange adventures lay ahead. The Humbug speculated on how he’d ever become involved in such a hazardous undertaking. And the crowd waved and cheered wildly, for, while they didn’t care at all about anyone arriving, they were always very pleased to see someone go.
  3. I mean the heart says yes, but the brain says no. The logical part of me is like “you would go insane” and the emotional part of me is like “THAT WOULD BE THE MOST AMAZING FUN PLACE TO EVER LIVE”. So that’s me confused.

 

May 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

The Martian by Andy Weir
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 1 – 5
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Sarcastic!
Least Favorite Thing:  “The lunatics at NASA have me doing all kinds of rape to the MAV. . .” Rape? Really? Jackass.

Well the internet was right, the book was funny, I’m glad I read it. Aside from that one sentence, it was a really good book. I would have quoted it a lot more, but I’m fairly certain if you added up all the ‘Martian’ quotes on Goodreads you could reprint full half of this novel (at least).

My Posts About The Martian


Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 11 – 13
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I just can’t think of anything I liked enough to say was my favorite thing.
Least Favorite Thing:  So many…

I just… This wasn’t a bad book by any means. But I just expected to love it and I barely even liked it… I actually preferred the film, which is something I never say.

My Posts About Practical Magic


Undiscovered Gyrl by Allison Burnett
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  Yes
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 7 – 15
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I literally didn’t like any part of it.
Least Favorite Thing:  Been a long time since I read a book with so many racist comments. I wasn’t missing it.

I read this because I had seen the movie version and found it tolerable enough that when I saw it was based on a book I decided to try the novel. This was a poor choice on my part.

My Posts About Undiscovered Gyrl


In Progress

From the introduction of The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

JUST IMAGINE WITH ME PLEASE

You are lying in bed, sleeping peacefully, and suddenly someone GRABS YOU and SHAKES YOU and is very forcefully like “WHAT ARE YOU???”

Is your first instinct to announce your profession? Because mine is more like