The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Blindness José Saramago, 1995 Premise: What happens to a small group of people during an unexplained epidemic of blindness. Content warnings, y'all. LOTS of them.  This is part of the "read the books already on the shelf" project, although I didn't pick this book. It was a gift, where "gift" means that if I remember right, an out-of-town visitor finished the book while visiting and didn't feel like bringing it home with them. (Not naming names here, just saying that I didn't choose this book.) I can see why it's an award-winning book, the style is interesting at first, and it feels like it's trying to say something about humanity.  Unfortunately, what it seems to be saying is that people generally suck, but women can somehow both bear horrific treatment and efficiently hold society together, but without actually getting any respect or sympathy.   It started out promising, but by the end, the style was oppressive and annoying to read, the fact...

Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber, Book 1) Roger Zelazny, 1970 Premise: Our main character awakens with no knowledge of who he is or where he's from, but soon he's on his way to challenge his brothers for control of the one true city of Amber. The Amber books have been on my radar for an incredibly long time, and I've had a giant omnibus on my shelf for quite a few years without cracking it open. I finally read the first one, and... I'm not sure how I feel. This book was intriguing, but I have a lot on my to-read list.  I really liked the beginning (despite its cliches) because it introduced us to the world in a surreal way without a ton of exposition. I was fascinated by Corwin's blend of insecurity and surety as he tried to navigate by his instincts in a dangerous situation.  But then he does some magic to get his (incredibly long) memory back, and all his powers, and... it was suddenly much less interesting to me.  The world is potentially very cool...

Tales from Watership Down Richard Adams, 1996 Premise: Stories in the world of Watership Down . Includes additional rabbit myths and legends as well as some continuing adventures. I was sure this wasn't going to be good.  How could it be? The author returns to his most famous book two decades later to write some spin-off material. When is that ever worthwhile? This time it is. To be fair, this book doesn't really stand alone. I think the stories would make little sense to anyone who hasn't read Watership Down . It doesn't have anything with very high stakes or long-term danger. It just gently extends the world a little bit around the edges.  I loved reading this. I found the stories that were probably Adams' attempt to make up for severely sidelining the does in the original book to be a bit obvious, but it was still enjoyable to get some of the female rabbits' own adventures.  This was another book I read because it's been on my bookshelf forever, but this...