Read in May

1. A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen
2. Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings, ed. by Miriam Schneir
3. The House at Pooh Corner, by A. A. Milne
4. The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, by Jaclyn Moriarty
5. Amphigorey, by Edward Gorey
6. Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight, by Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow
7. The Red Necklace, by Sally Gardner
8. Flying Blind: Poems, by Sharon Bryan
9. Devilish, by Maureen Johnson

The best:

Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings is a collection of speeches, letters, excerpts from works of literature, etc. from the late 1700s up until the 1920s. So much brilliant thought in here. Possibly the most intellectually stimulating book I've ever read.

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie is another keeper from the Aussie YA crew. I didn't enjoy it at first, just because of Bindy's character, but I'm really glad Summermoon persuaded me to stick with it. It starts out seeming like a fairly ordinary contemporary realistic young adult novel, but plot-wise, it gets absolutely insane.

I'd been meaning to read something of Edward Gorey's for a while; I read Amphigorey because it contains around a dozen of his picture books. Deliciously morbid and esoteric. Gothic British picture books from the sixties, set in Victorian times? How could you go wrong? I suppose some people might not like a series of rhyming couplets about twenty-six children who die in alphabetical order (with matching pen and ink drawings). But I did. Heh.

Flying Blind is quite an engaging book of poetry. More intelligent than emotional, but still lyrical.