Birdwatching » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Birdwatching: Happy families!

Posted by Anastasia on February 22, 2011 3 Responses »

Feb 222011

For all that I complain about YA books where the parents are too present in the kid’s adventures, I do enjoy the occasional book with a happy family in it. Not a PERFECT family, because that’d be insane (and impossible). But a happy one, where they all love each other and the fighting at holidays is minimal.

“Family,” in this instance, is defined as a group (or pair) of people who love each other and don’t mind when one family member is sick and pukes on another.

Here’s 10 books featuring happy families. Can you think of any more?

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede (2009).
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973).
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986).
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones (1977).
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (1997-2007).
The Young Wizards series by Diane Duane (1983-present).
The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932-1971).
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868).
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962).
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2008).

Thanks to Once Upon a Bookshelf for the list-y inspiration!

Birdwatching: Space colonies!

Posted by Anastasia on February 8, 2011 6 Responses »

Feb 082011

Space colonization (also called space settlement, space humanization, or space habitation) is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. (Wikipedia)

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live out in space. Or on another planet! Would things be completely different from how they are here on Earth? Or would we somehow be able to replicate Earth life exactly, containing it in a ship or colony?

Here’s a list of ten books that explore the idea of life in space. Would you want to live in a space colony? Or would you prefer to stick to your home planet?

Earthseed by Pamela Sargent (1983).
Dust by Elizabeth Bear (2007). [BD]
Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1951). [BD]
Dune by Frank Herbert (1965). [BD]
Ringworld by Larry Niven (1970). [BD]
Starfarers by Vonda N. McIntyre (1989).
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1985).
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1974). [BD]
Earthlight by Stuart Moore and Christopher Schons (2006).
The Ghost Sister by Liz Williams (2001).

Myself, I think I’d like to visit the colonies, but I’d always want to live on Earth. Unless it, like, exploded or something!

Thanks to Once Upon a Bookshelf for the list-y inspiration!

Birdwatching: Anthropomorphized animals!

Posted by Anastasia on January 25, 2011 7 Responses »

Jan 252011

Anthropomorphized animals differ from regular talking animals in that they’re less like animals and more like people. Sometimes they wear clothes, but other times they just act in a way completely contrary to their actual animal nature. So, while the rabbits in Watership Down talk, they aren’t anthropomorphized because neither are they acting like humans, unlike the animals in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series (beavers drinking tea, for instance). See?

On the one hand, I think rabbits wearing waistcoats and things are adorable. On the other hand, it freaks me out a little bit. Why? Don’t know. Anyway, here’s a list of 10 books featuring anthropomorphized animals.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865).
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950).
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne (1926).
Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945).
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (1902).
Redwall by Brian Jacques (1986).
Perloo the Bold by Avi (1998).
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908).
Milk Treading by Nick Smith (2002).
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900).

Can you think of any others?

Thanks to Once Upon a Bookshelf for the list-y inspiration!

Birdwatching: Theme Parks!

Posted by Anastasia on January 10, 2011 6 Responses »

Jan 102011

I’m currently on vacation at Disney World, so this was, I think, an obvious choice for a Birdwatching list!

I always thought it would be fun to live in Disney World (especially the Magic Kingdom), especially since it seems like such an excellent place for magical happenings to occur. I mean beyond the gooey “where your dreams come true” kind of magic– more like the “new gods” kind of thing in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Right? Disney World is, like, the center of all things middle American, and surely that’s enough power to raise up a new deity or two! I haven’t run across a book that has that angle on it, though some come close.

Anyway, there aren’t enough books actually set in Disney World to merit its own list, so I also included books that are set in other theme parks.

The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson (2005). This one sort of touches on the concept of belief turning into magic, but I wasn’t enamoured with it.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow (2003). It’s been a while since I last read this (five or six years?), but I THINK it has something to do with the power of…systems? Which relates to Disney World? I think I got distracted by the techno-language and the romance– I’ll probably reread this eventually to refresh my memory.
Baby-Sitters on Board! (Baby-Sitters Club Super Special 1) by Ann M. Martin (1990). What? They go on a CRUISE, okay, and Mallory is all into Harriet the Spy! And it’s my favorite BSC book!
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1990). The movie is better, but whatever.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (2003). I guess technically it’s a fair instead of a theme park, but…er…I’m counting it!
Paper Towns by John Green (2008). There’s a scene when they’re in a theme park! It counts!
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders (1996). I had to read some of the stories in this for my utopias/dystopias lit class, and I wasn’t overly thrilled (no good female characters), but the title story is pretty good, with a creepy theme park setting and not entirely hateable characters.
One I haven’t read yet: Pastworld by Ian Beck (2009). Futuristic dystopian YA book that’s set in a “theme park,” with some romance?

Do you know of any other books set in theme parks?

Thanks to Courtney at Once Upon a Bookshelf for the list-y inspiration!

Birdwatching: Christmas with a twist!

Posted by Anastasia on December 24, 2010 2 Responses »

Dec 242010

I think this edition of Birdwatching is pretty self-explanatory, eh? I like reading books set during Christmas, but I don’t really go for the typical gushy holiday cheer stuff. If we were watching a movie, I’d prefer The Ref, not It’s A Wonderful Life, right? Right. So here’s a list of Christmas books that are a bit…unusual.

Murder for Christmas ed. by Thomas Godfrey (1994). A great collection of murder mysteries set around Christmastime. I think this is the book that introduced me to Inspector Maigret.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (1972). Well, duh.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr Seuss (1957). Also duh. Although it does get quite mushy at the end.
The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas by Edward Gorey (1997). Again, I feel a bit like the benefits of reading this book are a bit too obvious.
Christmas Curiosities: Odd, Dark, and Forgotten Christmas by John Grossman (2008). Includes a bit about Krampus, who’s guaranteed to scare the holiday cheer right out of you.
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Cristie (1938). A bit of a repeat from number one, but still very good.

What are your favorite holiday books?

Thanks to Once Upon a Bookshelf for the list-y inspiration!

Birdwatching: Governesses!

Posted by Anastasia on December 7, 2010 12 Responses »

Dec 072010

Reading Agnes Grey has got me thinking about governesses, especially about the governesses I’ve read about in other books. I’m pretty sure they all had easier charges than poor Agnes does (I’ve gotten to chapter five, and now I never want to be an au pair). I’m also pretty sure I’ve read only about good governesses– do you know of any books with mean ones?

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (1934).
The Incorrigible Children series by Maryrose Wood (2010-future years).
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964).
The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones (1988).
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847).
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868).
The Nanny Diaries by Emma Mclaughlin & Nicola Kraus (2002).
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (1850). (obviously)

Links are to Amazon. Thanks to Once Upon a Bookshelf for the list-y inspiration!

Birdwatching: Ancient Egypt!

Posted by Anastasia on November 16, 2010 13 Responses »

Nov 162010

Oh man. Okay, how do I explain my fascination with ancient Egypt? Can it even BE explained? It comes from my love of history, my love of mystery, the whole Victorian explorer thing I’m also obsessed with. Plus, y’know, it’s just FUN! And my interest in ancient Egypt led to me interest in other ancient societies as well (which may have influenced me into changing my major to medieval studies), so that’s nice.

Anyway, I actually have more non-fiction books about ancient Egypt than I do fiction, but they’re mostly the boring type that has some nice photos (I have one about reading hieroglyphs that SHOULD be interesting but it’s not really). Here’s some of my favorite fiction books about or set in or related in some way to ancient Egypt:

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1966). Probably the book that made me interested in ancient Egypt in the first place! The Egypt part isn’t as important as the other parts, really, but I didn’t realize that when I was a kid and fixated on Mysterious Rites.
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers (2007). Mummies and museums and curses. Huzzah! [my review]
The Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters (1975-current). Sort of like the definitive Victorian-lady-in-Egypt series? But way more entertaining than how I just described it.
The Buried Pyramid by Jane Lindskold (2005). Starts off like a Victorian adventure novel, eventually turns into a fantasy with ancient Egyptian stuff. [my review]

Do you like books involving ancient Egypt? Which ones are your favorites?

Thanks to Once Upon a Bookshelf for the list-y inspiration!