Peter and the Shadow Thieves

I finished reading Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's Peter and the Shadow Thieves last night. As you may know, I love J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. There is something so incredibly fascinating about a never ending childhood. The book embodies innocence in a way that no other book I've read does. Most break it down through coming-of-age trials and meandering experiences that generally lead to growing up. Seeing as I'm such a fan of the original text, it should come to no surprise that I have reserved feelings about Barry and Pearson's text. I did like Peter and the Starcatchers enough to read the second book and purchase the next one, but its just not the same. They've completely changed the origin story and created their own universe in which to adventure. I don't know, I guess I'm a sucker for YA lit, or maybe I just find the way they wrote the books so interesting. From what I understand, they each take turns writing new chapters and email them back and forth. You wouldn't know it from reading the text. It flows pretty smoothly. Like its predecessor, the book is incredibly long with amazingly short chapters. It is an easy read if you're looking for something to have fun with, but I'd start with Starcatchers unless you want to be utterly confused.

Summer Reading

I was reading Lake Petty Gulf's blog and she reminded me to post what I'm reading on my blog.

Here's what I'm up to so far this summer, I don't have a list so much as a collection of books ready to be read.

Here's what I've read thus far:

The Stranger - Albert Camus
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
Peter and the Shadow Thieves - Barry/Pearson
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson

In the middle:

A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon
Summerland - Michael Chabon
The Boys' Crusade - Paul Fussell

Coming Up:

The Life and Times of Oscar Wao: Junot Diaz
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon: Barry/Pearson
The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-time

McCarthy is amazingly talented. He has to be my new favorite fiction author. I can say the same for Bryson's non-fiction. I can thank Andrew for turning me onto the McCarthy, and Matt for the Michael Chabon.