Sam Reviews "Ozma of Oz" by L. Frank Baum (Oz, #3)

Genuinely I think I like this story best, even more than the original story that inspired the movie.  The puzzle they had to solve (the main conflict) was so interesting and entertaining and reminded me of modern day escape rooms.  I also feel this story was more cohesive and easier to move through, especially compared to the 2nd book in the collection.

If Uncle Henry was so sick, why would a long boat ride to Australia seem like a good idea?

"If one is going to talk, it's best to talk correctly."

"'It's strange' said the girl, reflectively; 'but as I'm not a hen I can't be 'spected to understand that.'"

"'Bill!  Why, that's a boy's name.'
"'What difference does that make?'
"'You're a lady hen, aren't you?'
"'Of course.  But when I was first hatched out no one could tell whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster; so the little boy at the farm where I was born called me Bill, and made a pet of me because I was the only yellow chicken in the whole brood.  When I grew up, and he found that I didn't crow and fight, as all the roosters do, he did not think to change my name, and every creature in the barn-yard, as well as the people in the house, knew me as 'Bill.' so Bill I've always been called, and Bill is my name.'"

"We are safe from the Wheelers until we starve to death, anyhow; and before that time comes a good many things can happen."

"Mr. Smith was an artist, as well as an inventor, and he painted a picture of a river which was so natural that, as he was reaching across it to paint some flowers on the opposite bank, he fell into the water and was drowned."

"Mister Tinker made a ladder so tall that he could rest the end of it against the moon, while he stood on the highest rung and picked the little stars to set in the points of the king's crown.  But when he got to the moon Mister Tinker found it such a lovely place that he decided to live there."

"'Are you of royal blood?'
"'Better than thay, ma'am, I came from Kansas.'"

"I wish you could, indeed, free my aunt and her ten royal children. For if they were restored to their proper forms and station they could rule the Kingdom of Ev themselves, and that would save me a lot of worry and trouble. At present there are at least ten minutes every day that I must devote to affairs of state, and I would like to be able to spend my whole time in admiring my beautiful heads."

"He sold [his family] to the powerful Nome King in exchange for a long life, and afterward destroyed the life by jumping into the sea."

"You can hardly imagine the size of my appetite. It seems to fill my whole body, from the end of my throat to the tip of my tail. I am very sure the appetite doesn't fit me, and is too large for the size of my body."

"'I've married a man who owns nine cows,' said Jinjur to Ozma, 'and now I am happy and contented and willing to lead a quiet life and mind my own business.'
"'Where is your husband?' asked Ozma.
"'He is in the house, nursing a black eye,' replied Jinjur, calmly.  'The foolish man would insist upon milking the red cow when I wanted him to milk the white one; but he will know better next time, I am sure.'"

"...the young men who attend the college are no worse off than they were before.  You see, in this country are a number of youths who do not like to work, and the college is an excellent place for them."

Sam Reviews "Adultolesence" by Gabbie Hanna

Gabbie states that this book is inspired by Bo Burnham and Shiel Silverstein, and it shows. So expect some of those quirky silly type poems and expect short poems. But it's a sweet collection and I'm glad to add it to my coffee table book collection.  *spoiler alert* - but also not really there's probably close to 300+ poems in her book and I think I only took photos of like 20.

Sam Reviews "The Marvelous Land of Oz" by L. Frank Baum (Oz, #2)

"By the time Tip had picked himself up and cleared the dust from his throat so he could say 'Whoa!' there was no further need of saying it, for the horse was long since out of sight.  So he did the only sensible thing he could do.  He sat down and took a great rest, and afterward began walking along the road."

"You seem harmless, Folks do not smile so delightfully when they mean mischief."

Thought it was kind of cool that the General of the Revolt Army is a girl, but then the author wrote that she wanted the emeralds used in the emerald city of decoration to be used for jewelry instead so it almost seems like a slight insult to girls.

New word/term learned:  Quoits (koits, kwoits, kwaits) is a traditional gamewhich involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike (sometimes called a hob, mott or pin). The sport of quoits encompasses several distinct variations.

I guess the Tin [Wood]man's name is Nick Chopper.

"Do not dampen today's sun with the showers of tomorrow."

"Tailors having, like cats, nine lives, as you probably know."

"Everything in life is unusual until you get accustomed to it."

"Still, it is a Joke.  And a Joke derived from a play upon words is considered among educated people to be eminently proper. ...  To pronounce a joke that allows both meanings of a certain word, proves the joker a person of culture and refinement, who has, moreover, a thorough command of the language."

Very clever of the travelers to ask a mouse to walk ahead of them so the Mombi's tricks could be detected.

"'I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City.'
"'Hm!' said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully.  'If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manager is so easily?'
"'I really do not know' replied the man, with a deep sigh.  'Perhaps the women are made of cast-iron.'"

"Why, when it comes to law, I have nothing to say, for laws were never meant to be understood, and it is foolish to make the attempt."

"That proves you are unusual and I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed."

"I am only remarkable because I can't help it."

New word learned:  Lorgnette:  a pair of glasses or opera glasses held in front of a person's eyes by a long handle at one side.

"The Wonderful Wizard was never so wonderful as Queen Ozma, for he claimed to do many things he could not do; whereas our new Queen does many things no one would ever expect her to accomplish."

"I am [the richest man in all the world] but not on account of my money.  For I consider brains far superior to money, in every way.  You may have noticed that if one has money without brains, he cannot use it to advantage; but if one has brains without money, they will enable him to live comfortably to the end of his days."

"At the same time, you must acknowledge that a good heart is a thing that brains can not create, and that money can not buy. Perhaps, after all, it is I [the Tin Woodman] who am the richest man in all the world."

"You are both rich, my friends, and your riches are the only riches worth having - the riches of content!"

Sam Reviews "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum (Oz, #1)

Turns out the movie followed pretty closely to the movie. And I believe the creatures they left out were simply creatures it would have been hard to create when the movie was made. Clearly written for a younger demographic, the story was easy to get through and relatively short.

Quoted from the Introduction:
"Yet the old-time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and bloodcurdling incident devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder-tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident. Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to pleasure children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out."  -L. Frank Baum. Chicago, April, 1900.

Learned a new word:  Garret; a top-floor or attic room, especially a small dismal one (traditionally inhabited by an artist).

"When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at."

"...only witches and sorceresses wear white."  --  Never heard that part of the myth / story before.

"Blue is the color of the Munchkins, and white is the witch color; so we know you are a friendly witch."  --  Dorothy's iconic blue and white gingham dress.

Crazy to me that in the storybook, the Tinman was originally a man but became a Tin Woodman because he kept chopping off pieces of himself and a magical person turned him into tin.

"I shall take the heart, for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world."

Learned a new definition of a word:  Truck; basically anything on wheels that can be used to carry or haul heavy objects.

When they got to the city and were told they had to put on locked spectacles that only one man had the keys to, I don't know if I'd be comfortable with that.  Sure seems like a fast way to get burned.

"The witch did not bleed where she was bitten, for she was so wicked, that the blood in her had dried up many years before."

"My people have worn green glasses on their eyes so long that most of them think it really is an Emerald City, and it certainly is a beautiful place, abounding in jewels and precious metals, and every good thing that is needed to make one happy.  I have been good to the people, and they like me; but ever since this Palace was built, I have shut myself up and would not see any of them."

"I'm really a very good man, but I'm a very bad Wizard."

"Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge."

"The True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid."

"'I am going to Oz to get my brains at last.  When I return I shall be as other men are.'
"'I have always liked you as you were,' said Dorothy simply."

I don't remember the Wizard leaving the Scarecrow in charge of the Emerald City.

"'Am I really wonderful?'
"'You are unusual.'"

Sam Reviews "Plaid" by Pia Moorland

This will not be a long review.  I had no idea what to expect from this book, and it's handwritten style confused me. But this is such a strong and inspiring story. it was a fast read because of the large print, but that by no means takes away from the impact.  It's a simple, though heartbreaking story, meant to shed light on abuse, not really for entertainment so there wasn't much to necessarily pull out or quote, except for a little piece in the very beginning:

"Do not be fooled by legal terminology that uses terms like indecent or unnatural.  No rapes are decent or natural.  The terms are used to classify rapes.  A cleaner way to explain things.  I think it would be better to label things more clearly for a society in denial.  Things like rape of a six year old, rape of a nine year old.  By using terms under the age of fourteen or sixteen it does not allow the full impact of what occurs in the life of a sexually abused child to enter the lay person's mind."

Sam Reviews "Five Men Who Broke My Heart" by Susan Shapiro

I think it's awesome that the author grew up in Michigan and went to U of M Ann Arbor.  As far as my feelings on the book, I felt like the book could have been written in a better way, more storytelling.  But the author is primarily a journalist, so it makes sense that I read that way.  Also, I'm sure most people would think that the story / autobiography I inevitably want to write would read this way, too.

"In my family, achievement was redemption." 

"From age sixteen to thirty-one [are] the worst years to be off and on in love with anybody."

"If I was capable of loving someone it would be you, but I'm not so I don't." 

"The hidden perk of punishing:  it left a trail that could be easily followed if someone from the past wanted to find you.   Or was that the hidden peril?"

"That was the problem lately - everything led back to what was missing." 

"Five years was the crucial point in a union - when the sheets you got as wedding presents were wearing thin.  It was time to decide whether to buy new sheets, live with each other's lunacy forever and have a baby, or give up and go back to playing musical beds." - Isadora Wing

"At forty-two, he had chosen a student almost half my age, as if twenty years later he could still only handle half of me." 

"That was my curse, I remembered everything." 

"'He's ten years older.  When he dies, you and I will get married in our old age.'  ...  He could only use the M-word from the safest distance possible."

"That was the problem with marriage:  nothing stayed neat or where you expected it." 

"The one benefit of middle age was being to tired for bullshit."

"So what if I sounded petty?  I was." 

"You said when I left for Harvard I'd get one more gold star on my forehead, but still be empty inside. You were right." 

"I'd settle for feeling the way I used to feel at sixteen, when everything was still possible." 

"After each break up, I couldn't help but feel abandoned.  Until I found another boyfriend - who eventually abandoned me as well.  Until I met Aaron the workaholic, who managed to marry and abandon me simultaneously."

"Breakups are worse than death. When a mate passed away, you were left with good memories and sympathy. When a lover dumped you, you were expected to get over it in a month. Then, for the rest of your days, you were faced with the threat of seeing him happier with someone else."

"Was that what I wanted from the men I used to love - permission to have what they couldn't give me?" 

"Had I broken his heart first?  No wonder I distorted the truth." 

"I was flattered; I still had the power to at least ruin his schedule." 

"[Marriage] was all timing. When you're ready, you're ready. You go for your fantasy. If that doesn't work, you try someone available."

"I was a bad wife for wanting to go to Claire's party more than I wanted to greet [my husband after a three week long work trip].  My mother would have been waiting at home for my father, sweating over a brisket. No, my mother wouldn't be waiting, she'd never let him out of her sight for that long."

"Years of therapy trying to shrug off the overwhelming pressure to be like our mothers.  Or was it guilt that we didn't have to be?"

"That was the problem with honesty, it didn't end. You always needed to keep going further."

"No wonder Richard inflated his success. He had to bolster himself up, no one else in his life did."

"There were three ways [people] could [change]: through therapy, the death of a parent, or healthy love."

"Richard and Sally had only dated for a few years two decades before; their hate was longer and more passionate than their love."

"He had also just watched Ally McBeal and said I reminded him of her. I found the character totally neurotic, but at least she was skinny. Did he remember me skinny? Or neurotic?"

"Stop apologizing for your life."

"It seemed I was much more apt to be completely heartbroken when I was at my thin weight. Conversely, I had happily pranced down the aisle at my heaviest. So when I gave up all the dieting and exercising, there was room to fit in happiness."

"This was exactly what I detested about marriage. I could not make one simple decision about my own apartment, taxes, or womb without getting his sign-off."

"More comfortable playing shrink than siren."

"Aaron spoke more slowly than Joshua, his words more deliberate. His manner was older, he knew who he was. Yet that meant he couldn't change. Men my age were more malleable."

"Whoever said weddings were romantic was single and/or in the wedding business."

"I felt awkward, like an actress reprising a role I'd walked out on decades ago, swearing I'd never return."

"Every lover is a reaction against your last."  - Erica Jong