19.
Title: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
Author: Anne Fadiman
Pages: 162 pages
Genre: Essays
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: February 10, 2012
Rating: ****

Anne Fadiman's collection of short essays on reading and literacy has won a LibraryThing stamp of approval, and I don't believe I can say anything that hasn't already been said. I found Fadiman's text to be good fun, and, as many other LT members, could certainly sympathize with much of what she says.

My particular delight, however, came in proofreading for the copious errors in her text immediately following the chapter on her compulsive proofreading...

20.
Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 400 pages
Genre: Science Fiction/ Fairytale Retelling
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: February 11, 2012
Rating: ****1/2

Marissa Meyer's retelling of "Cinderella" in Cinder is without a doubt my favorite fairytale retelling to date. Casting the protagonist as a cyborg in a plague-cursed futuristic world allowed Meyer to remain faithful to all of the traditions of the story while introducing her own creative elements. There is nothing surprising in the text - her "twists" can be spotted in the first fragment in which they are introduced - but the narrative remains interesting nonetheless. Cinder is good fun for anyone with an interest in fairytale retelling.