Court

I finished it so it wasn't that bad. It was all over the place, but what I disliked the most was the ‘guest narrator'.

3.5
For most of the story I loved Barbra/Sophie, and then there were moments when that I felt she was flat or too ‘Sue'.

But I loved the time period, the look of London/England at that moment and Hornby's tying together of that collection of characters, even if it got muddled sometimes.

Loved the artwork. Not sure either artist got anywhere, although their words were often beautiful, and I accept that it's not always about getting somewhere. I'll have to reread this sometime.

I enjoyed this better than ‘We Have Always Lived in a Castle', the prose/quality of the writing was wonderful.

Writing is pretty good. My opinion of the relationship between Eleanor and Theodora fluctuates. I enjoy the Doctor as a way to reveal Hill House's history...but I frustratingly keep thinking “just take the doors off their hinges!” But it is a decent plot device to have them keep shutting and have the possible reasons for their shutting to be the balance of the house or Mrs. Dudley.

Update:
Netflix released a series (Oct 2018) that is supposed to be based off of this, but so far is rather different. I will consider giving this a re-read.

Excllent writing, didn't love everything, but this was a great retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales.

The writing and wit is so good, I will have to look into her other books. I also loved that the collection ended on what I would call a positive note.

I will not go back to my box.

The writing was so-so.

So glad that it ended on a hopeful note.

Such an engrossing read; I read it all in one day.

The art was amazing! However the writing/storyline could have been stronger.

Probably closer to 3.5, but ended on a good set of stories. Wasn't a fan of The Carpet People, but I loved the one about egg dancing, abominable snowpeople, the Town of Blackberry, and some others.

Closer to 2.5, short story collections are often a mixed bag. Some stories were great, admirably imaginative, while others were a little too ‘out-there' or were distasteful,

The writing was excellent, which is why I finished the story. Maybe I was expecting more from it since I loved ‘The Lottery' so much, but I felt like it was missing that “big reveal” moment.

The story gets about a 3, but the art is so well done (5) that it raises it to a four.

The story feels like it's lacking and somewhat fractured. There's so much there that's good, but only a small amount of it is addressed.

Originally this was read to me (then by me) in my early childhood as part of the Golden Books collection, but today I read it to my client's little sister(3yro). It was very cute and provided opportunities to ask her questions.

Made me laugh and enjoyed the art. Not the biggest fan of the reprint of the original, although it was cool to see.

Some outside the box which was good, and some other things that were TOO outside the box that is my comfort zone or taste. A lot of great artwork, however this is a collection of 33 stories, and the bulk was either art I didn't care for or more often was of a subject matter that was too lewd or wasn't linear or didn't make sense as a story.

Enjoyable segments:
Ayuko Akiyama's Inside the Gourd
Katsuo Kawai's Push Pin Woman
Mitsuhiko Yoshida's The Hare and the Tortoise
Shinbo Minami's Robo and Pyuta
Shinya Komatsu's Mushroom Garden

I'll see if I can find some of their other works.

2.5
Another time in which I am disappointed that the art style within the book is not matched by the art style on the cover...wow those lips.

3.5
Great story, great message(s), although heavy on the cliches.

He an odd ending, but really like the art and some of the concepts.

I found myself skimming. The subject matter is really important, but I didn't always want to dedicate a lot of time on the details of which particular books were accomplishing which important task, I was focusing more on the larger picture of what needed to be addressed and if it was. I like Marc Aronson's writing and I value the subject matter. Recommend to anyone who has an interest in YA or in encouraging people to read.

The beginning went well, but then it sped up too fast and it felt like it rushed to the end, leaving things out. Also the ending didn't really wrap up well, it didn't reach back around to the monk or the tanuki so the story felt a little lopsided.

I liked that I had listened to one of her other books on tape, it made it so that when I read some particular passages that I heard her voice. At times she has these really great tones: witty, sarcastic, humorous, self-depreciating (but not over done), sensible, and more. I loved the first half of the book more than the second, I found myself nodding in agreement, laughing, and loving the quotes more often. The second half was pretty good too, but I'm not a big Buffy fan, and I found some of her topics were just a bit ‘off'.

I admit to skimming over the recipes and cooking instruction. The characters are decent, I don't have a good understanding of Kakei's coworkers, but that's ok, as of yet they are side characters. I like Kakei, I find his boyfriend slightly annoying, but still interesting. His parents are well written, and I adore the woman he cooks with.

3.5
Interesting, great figurative language (although at times over-the-top or not to my taste), personal when not historical, and at times witty and humorous. I think I will try her ‘The Partly Cloudy Patriot' on audio book as well.