Read These

Some days, trying to get through a new book is sort of a hassle.

And some days, you get a beautiful surprise.

Gail Carson Levine and Eva Ibbotsen are two authors whom I adore. Their work is so completely their own, and their worlds are wonderful. They breath fresh air into old stories as well as creating new ones, and I can't say enough how great their books are.

The Star of Kazan is the latest book by Eva Ibbotsen that I've read. It is written as fiction but reads like a fairytale (if that makes sense). I've compared it to an impressionist painting...one of Monet's would suit. It's such a statement about home and family and it was so beautiful that when it was over I nearly cried.

Fairest is Gail Carson Levine's version of Snow White - and may I say, I HIGHLY prefer it to the original? She's created a whole new sense of the story (that ties in with her Cinderella re-telling, Ella Enchanted!!) which talks about beauty and living in a beauty-obsessed culture (but being set in a fairytale world, it loses its preachiness)...it's magical.

If you're looking for new reading material...I highly, highly recommend these two books.